Poor fellow! I wish I had known about it in
time to save his life!
The great danger of smelting coal, as a ship's cargo, besides its
special liability to spontaneous combustion, appears to be that the
fire may smoulder in the very centre of the mass for so long that,
when the smoke is at last discovered, it is impossible to know how far
the mischief has advanced. It may go on smouldering quietly for days,
or at any moment the gas that has been generated may burst up the
vessel's decks from end to end, without the slightest warning. Or it
may burn downwards, and penetrate some portion of the side of the ship
below water; so that, before any suspicion has been aroused, the water
rushes in, and the unfortunate ship and her crew go to the bottom. On
board the 'Monkshaven' the men dug down into the cargo in many places
on Sunday night, only to find that the heat became more intense the
deeper they went; and several of them had their hands or fingers burnt
in the operation.
This has been about the best day for sailing that we have had since we
left the tropics. The sea has been smooth, and a fair breeze has taken
us steadily along at the rate of nine knots an hour. The sun shone
brightly beneath a blue sky, and the temperature is delightful. The
sunset was grand, though the sky looked threatening; but the moon rose
brilliantly, and until we went to bed, at ten o'clock, the evening was
as perfect as the day had been.
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