She Forfarshire was
a British steamer,
= which sailed be-
= tween Hull and
= Dundee. She
left Hull on the
evening of Wed-
nesday, Septem-
a oa ber 5th, 1838,
having on board a valuable cargo, and
upward of forty passengers. Her crew
consisted of twenty-one persons; the
captain’s wife accompanied him on the
voyage,

The Forfarshire had not proceeded
far, when a leak was discovered in the
boiler, This rendered it necessary to ex-
tinguish two of the fires, which were,
however, relighted when the boiler had
been partially repaired. The vessel con-
tinued her course until the following
evening, by which time she had pro-
ceeded as far as Berwick Bay, when the
leak again appeared. It had now be-
come so great, that the greatest difficul-
ty was experienced in keeping the boilers
filled, the water escaping through the
leak as fast as it was pumped in. The
wind was blowing strong, and the sea
running high; and the leak increased so
much, from the motion of the vessel, that
the fires were extinguished, and the en-
gines, of course, became entirely useless.
Ii was now about ten o'clock at night,
and they were off St. Abbs’ Head, a
bold promontory on the Scottish coast.
There being great danger of drifting
ashore, the sails were hoisted fore and
uft, and the vessel put about, in order
to get her before the wind, and keep her

 

 

THE YOUTH’S ‘CABINET.

ageable, and the tide setting strong to
the south, she proceeded in that direc-
tion. It rained heavily during the whole
time, and the fog was so dense that it
became impossible to tell the situation of
the vessel. At Jength breakers were
discovered close to leeward, and the
Ferne Lights, which about the same pe-
riod became visible, put an end to all
doubt as to the imminent peril of the un-
fortunate vessel. An attempt was made
to run her between the Ferne Islands,
but she refused to obey the helm; and
at three o’clock on Friday morning. she
struck with tremendous force against the
outer or Longstone Island.

At the moment the vessel struck,
most of the passengers were below, and
many of them asleep in their berths.
One, alarmed by the shock, started up,
and rushed upondeck. When he reach-
ed it, he found everything in confusion :
and seeing part of the crew hoisting out
a boat, he sprang into it. The raging
of the sea instantly separated it from the
vessel ; and though several of the other
passengers attempted to reach it, they
were unsuccessful, and perished in the
attempt. The boat itself escaped by
something little short of a miracle,
There was but one outlet by which it
could avoid being dashed to pieces on
the breakers by which it was surrounded.
This outlet it providentially took, without
its crew being aware of it; and after
being exposed to the storm all night, it
was picked up by a sloop, and carried
into Shields.

In less than five minutes after the ves-
sel struck, a second shock separated her
into two parts—the stern, quarter-deck,
and cabin, being instantly borne away,

off the land. She soon became unman- | through a passage called the Piper Gut.