Accidents > Dangers of the deep, or, Narratives of shipwreck and adventure at sea

BURNING OF TUB PRINCE.
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BURNING OF THE PRINCE,
A. FRENCH EAST INHIAMAN.
On the 19th of February, 1752, a French
East Indiaman, called the Prince, sailed from
Port L’Orient on a voyage outward bound.
But soon afterwards, a sudden shift of wind
drove her on a sand bank, where she was ex¬
posed to imminent danger, and heeled so
much that the mouths of the guns lay in the
sea. By lightening the ship, however, ac¬
companied by laborious and incessant exer¬
tions, she floated with the rise of the tide,
and, being again carried into port, was com¬
pletely unloaded, and underwent a thorough
repair.
The voyage was resumed on the 10th of
June, with a favourable wind, and, for seve¬
ral weeks seemed to promise every success
that could be desired.
While in south latitude 8° 30 ', and in 5°
west longitude from Paris, M. de la Fond,
one of the lieutenants of the ship, was, just
at the moment of this observation, informed
by a seaman that smoke was issuing from the
main hatchway. The first lieutenant, who