[Illustration: Monkshaven on Fire.]
It was perfectly evident that it would be impossible to save the ship,
and the captain therefore determined, after consultation with Tom and
Captain Brown, to abandon her. Some of the crew were accordingly at
once brought on board the 'Sunbeam,' in our boat, which was then sent
back to assist in removing the remainder, a portion of whom came in
their own boat. The poor fellows were almost wild with joy at getting
alongside another ship, after all the hardships they had gone through,
and in their excitement they threw overboard many things which they
might as well have kept, as they had taken the trouble to bring them.
Our boat made three trips altogether, and by half-past six we had them
all safe on board, with most of their effects, and the ship's
chronometers, charts, and papers.
The poor little dingy, belonging to the 'Monkshaven,' had been cast
away as soon as the men had disembarked from her, and there was
something melancholy in seeing her slowly drift away to leeward,
followed by her oars and various small articles, as if to rejoin the
noble ship she had so lately quitted. The latter was now hove-to,
under full sail, an occasional puff of smoke alone betraying the
presence of the demon of destruction within. The sky was dark and
lowering, the sunset red and lurid in its grandeur, the clouds
numerous and threatening, the sea high and dark, with occasional
streaks of white foam.
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