John Nicholson Inglefield

“ As the evening approached the ship appeared little more than suspended in the water, there was no certainty that she would swim from one minute to another, and the love of life, which I believe never shewed itself better in the approach to death, began now to level all distinctions; it was impossible indeed for any man to deceive himself with a hope of being saved on a raft in such a sea, besides that the ship sinking, it was probable would carry every thing down with her in a vortex, to a certain distance. ”

“ The people, who till this period had laboured as determined to conquer their difficulties, without a murmur or without a tear, seeing their efforts useless, many of them burst into tears, and wept like children. I gave orders for the anchors, of which we had two remaining, to be thrown over-board one of which, the spare anchor, had been most surprisingly hove in upon the fore-castle and mid-ship, when the ship had been upon her beem-ends, and gone through the decks. ”

“ As it became next to a certainty that we should all perish in the same manner in a day or two, it was somewhat comfortable to reflect that dying of hunger was not so dreadful as our imagination had represented ”

“ We soon found our account in bailing; the spare pump had been put down the fore-hatch-way, and a pump shifted to the fish-room, but the motion of the ship had washed the coals so small, that they reached every part of the ship, and the pumps soon choaked. However the water by noon had considerably diminished by working the buckets, but there appeared no prospect of saving the ship if the gale continued; the labour was too great to hold out without water, yet the people worked without a murmur, and indeed with chearfulness. ”

“ Mr Baylie, a young Gentleman of 15 years of age, leaped from the chains after the boat had got off, and was taken in. The boat falling astern, the calm exposed us to the sea, and we endeavoured to put her bow round to keep her to the break of the sea, and to pass to windward of the ship, but in the attempt she was nearly filled, the sea ran too high, and the only probability of living was keeping her before the wind. ”

“ Our sufferings were now as great as human strength could bear, but were convinced that good spirits were a better support than great bodily strength, for on this day Thomas Matthews quarter-master, the stoutest man in the boat perished from hunger and cold ”

“ When we quitted the ship the wind was at N. W. or N. N. W. Fayal bore E. S. E. 250, or 260 leagues, had the wind continued 5 or 6 days, there was a probability that running before the sea, we might have fallen in with some of the western islands; the change of wind was death to these hopes, for should it begin to blow we knew there would be no preserving life but by running before the sea, which would carry us again to the northward, where we must soon afterwards perish. ”

“ Another sail had been thrummed and got over, but we did not find its use; indeed there was no prospect but in change of weather. A large leak had been discovered and stopt in the fore-hold, and another in the lady-hold, but the ship appeared so weak from her labour, that it was clear she could not last long: the after-cock-pit had fallen in, the fore-cock-pit the same, with all the store-rooms down the stem-post was so loose that as the ship rolled the water rushed in on either side in great streams, which we could not stop. ”

“ The love of life prevailing, I called to Mr Rainey the master, the only officer upon deck, desiring him to follow me, and immediately descended into the boat at the after-part of the chains, but not without great difficulty got the boat clear from the ship, more than the number that the boat could carry pushing to get in, and many jumping into the water. ”

“ I divided the ship's company, with the officers attending them, into parties to raise the jury-fore-mast, to heave over-board the lower deck guns, to clear the wreck of the fore and after holds, to prepare the machine for steering the ship, and to work the pumps By night the after-hold was as clear as when the ship was launched, for to our astonishment, there was not a shovel full of coals remaining, 20 chaldron having been pumped out since the commencement of the gale. ”

“ On the 13th day it fell calm, and soon after a breeze of wind sprung up from the N. N. W. and blew to a gale, so that we ran before the wind at the rate of 5 or 6 miles an hour under our blanket, till we judged we were to the southward of Fayal, and to the westward 60 leagues, but blowing strong we could not attempt to steer for it. Our wishes were now for the wind to shift to the westward, this was the fifteenth day we had been in the boat ”

“ Wilkinson, that the Centaur had lost her rudder as well as her masts, that she made a great deal of water and I desired he would remain with her until the weather grew moderate. I saw this merchant-man approach afterwards near enough to speak to the Ville de Paris, but I was afraid that her condition was much worse than it appeared to be, as she was continuing upon that tack. In the mean time all the quarter-deck guns were thrown over board, and all but 6 which had set off the main-deck; the ship lying in the trough of the sea laboured prodigiously ”

“ A bag of bread was ordered to be put in each, and any liquors that could be got at: for the purpose of supplying the rafts, I had intended my self to go into the 5 oared yawl, and the coxswain was desired to get any thing from my steward that might be useful. ”