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

BURNING OP THE PRINCE. 295
yards, spars, hen coops, and everything oc¬
curring, was seized in despair, and thus em¬
ployed.
Dreadful confusion prevailed. Some leaped
into the sea, anticipating that death which
was about to reach them ; others, more suc¬
cessful, swam to fragments of wreck; while
the shrouds, yards, and ropes, along the side
of the vessel, were covered with the crew
crowding upon them, and hanging there, as
if hesitating which alternative of destruction
to choose, equally imminent and equally ter¬
rible.
A father was seen to snatch his son from
the flames, fold him to his breast, and then
throwing him into the sea, himself followed,
where they perished in each other’s embrace
Meantime Lieutenant de la Fond ordered
the helm to be shifted. The ship heeled to
larboard, which afforded a temporary preser¬
vation, while the fire raged along the star¬
board, from stem to stem.
Lieutenant de la Fond had, until this mo¬
ment, been engrossed by nothing but adopting
every means to preserve the ship : now, how¬
ever, the horrors of impending destruction
were too conspicuously in view. His forti-