which he arrived torn from her anchor and swallowed up. Suddenly in the middle of the bay appeared a boat driving towards the shore. The waves, however, advanced with redoubled energy, but without breaking, and tossed the boat so high on the strand that the men were able to jump out and scramble up the beach. The rescue was due to the captain, who as the boat entered the breakers, stove in the head of a keg of oil, which though unable to lessen their height, prevented the waves from breaking, and caused them to run up the strand like rollers, carrying the boat with them.

In 1867, a master stated in the New York Shipping List that he had been at sea twenty-eight years and master for ten years, and that he had saved the vessel under his command twice by oiling the sea. He says when a ship is disabled and cannot get out of a storm, and the master has to make the best of a gale, if he has oil on board he should start two or three gallons over the side, to windward; this will make smooth water. The oil allowed to drip slowly out is all that is required; the ship is in smooth though heaving water as long as the oil runs. In 1864, in the heaviest gale of wind he ever experienced, he lost all sails, and then the rudder followed; and he knew the vessel could not have ridden the sea for an hour longer if he had not had some oil. Five gallons lasted fifty-six hours, and thus saved the vessel, cargo, and lives. He recommends that ships of heavy tonnage should have two iron tanks of forty gallons each, one on each side, with the faucets so arranged that the oil can be started at any time into small vessels-say ten-gallon casks; and in all ships' boats, tanks of five gallons each well filled, so that in case the ship founders or burns, the boats will have oil to smooth the sea in a gale. With these tanks, and a good master who knows the law of storms and handles the ship so as to get out of the centre of it, the danger of foundering is greatly reduced.

Captain Betts of the King Cenric,' of one thousand four hundred and ninety tons, which lately arrived at Bombay from Liverpool with a cargo of coal, used common pine-oil in a heavy gale of wind to prevent the sea breaking on board, and with perfect success. The gale continued for nearly five days, and raged with determined fury. It had lasted some time, when the chief officer, Mr. Bowyer, bethought himself of a plan he had seen tried upon some occasions when in the Atlantic trade to prevent the sea breaking in. He got out two canvas clothes-bags; into each he poured two gallons of oil. He punctured the bags slightly, and hung one over each quarter, towing them along. The effect was magical. The waves no longer broke against the poop and sides of the ship; but yards and yards away, where the oil had slowly spread itself over the water and in the wake of the vessel, was a large space of calm water. The crew were thus able to repair damages with greater ease; the ship was relieved from those tremendous shocks received from the mass of waters which had burst over her quarters and stern, and the danger

was considerably lessened. The two bags lasted two days; after which, the worst rage of the storm having expended itself, no more oil was used. Four gallons of oil, scarcely worth thirty shillings, perhaps here saved 'King Cenric,' its cargo, and the lives and property of the crew.

The philosophy of

The above facts are capable of absolute verification. the operation is simply, that the thin covering of oil floating on the waves prevents the wind from entering under the surface, and therefore greatly reduces the roughness of the sea, and probably the height of the waves, the crests of which are thus prevented from breaking, which is one of the principal causes of danger. There is, however, nothing new in the application of oil for such purposes. Pliny mentions that in his day divers used to throw oil to lessen the roughness of the sea, in order that they might more readily discern objects at the bottom.

The position of seals is readily known by the traces of oil which they throw up when feeding on oil-giving fishes such as the cod; and the course taken by shoals of herrings and pilchards can also be easily observed by the oil, let free, causing streaks of smooth water in the midst of the otherwise turbulent element. From the same reason, the sea never breaks round the body of a dead or harpooned whale, and its track for a long distance may be clearly discerned. The cook's slush, or the waste from a disused oil-barrel, or a little coal-tar thrown overboard, has caused a rough sea to become remarkably smooth. Dr. Franklin tells us that in Newport Harbour, U.S., the sea was always smooth when there were any whaling-vessels at anchor in it, through the waste of blubber and oil from them. When the bilge-water from oilladen ships in the Ceylon trade is pumped overboard, the roughness caused by a gale subsides immediately; and knowing this, some intelligent masters, especially when near the Cape of Good Hope, always resort to the pumps of such ships previous to encountering heavy weather. Indeed, when running a gale, oil is sometimes thrown from vessels in the Newfoundland and Labrador trade, to keep the sea from breaking over them. They can run much longer with this assistance than without it, and the oil spreads to windward as fast as to leeward. Yet how little are these facts known. The writer has spoken of them for years to captains of vessels, who have either received these facts with indifference or refused them credence. It is to be hoped that more general attention may be given to this important subject; and as it is one which deeply concerns the interests of the mercantile marine, it seems most desirable that some public body-the Wreck Commissioners, for instanceshould get together all the substantial information which might lean to placing the matter in an effective shape. What could be more applicable for initial experiments than a trial of lifeboats, &c. going out in rough weather to stranded or wreck d vessels? We throw out the hint.-Chambers' Journal, August 10th 1878.

THE LIFE-BOAT.

THE following lines were written for one of the Anniversaries of "THE SHIPWRECKED MARINERS' SOCIETY," and inscribed, with unfeigned feelings of respect and admiration, to the benevolent founder of this institution, John Rye, Esq., of Bath :

The tempest is raging--the furious winds roar—

While each surge lashes madly the desolate shore ;
The foam-crested billow is scattered on high,

As the fierce-flashing lightning illumines the sky.
Ha!-what signal was that? 'Twas the dull, heavy sound
Of the minute-gun, borne on the wild blast around!
List!--again 'tis repeated !--what horror was there,
As its sullen note mingled with shrieks of despair!
Hark!—again !--no, 'tis over!--Hope's beacon is dark-
The billows have closed round that ill-fated bark;
And the mariner, dashed from his sundering ship
With the kiss of affection still fresh on his lip-
(For that gay, gallant crew yestere'en left their bay.
Though the sport of the winds and the waters to-day )—
Sinks to dreamless repose 'neath the far-distant wave,
Where no sorrowing mourner may weep o'er his grave!
There's a life full of anguish compressed in that sigh,
In that fervent appeal to the Being on high,

Who can shelter his widow and innocent child

From the storm and the tempest, through life's dreary wild!
What language can picture distraction like this.
As he views his last home in the yawning abyss!
Do we supplicate Heaven in mercy to spare?
Do our feelings unite with our lips in the prayer?
Then let each one remember, when sorrows oppress,
He can answer the signal, and succour distress ;-
If the mariner's dangers our sympathy share,
We shall feel for the orphan, deprived of his care.

To our life-boat, to-day, let us all lend a hand :-
We'll not put to sea-we can man it on land!
Thus, with liberal hearts, and hands steady and true,
We shall mount every surge that opposes our view.
By Philanthropy framed, let our life-boat be found
In each requisite means of relief to abound ;-

Bath.

With Good-will at the helm-Mercy's banner displayed-
Hope shall rest on the anchor by Charity weighed ;
Let our hearts bear her up, as the cork did of old,
And instead of the copper, her lining be gold!

Then success to our cause !-'tis the cause of the brave
Who encounter the frown of each death-bearing wave,
For the comfort of those who in safety abide
While enjoying the pleasures their daring supplied.
Still may Heavenly Grace with our energies blend,
And promote the designs of the mariner's friend!

G.

THE ALBATROSS AND THE DROWNING SOLDIER. THE albatross has often served poor Jack a good turn for food when his larder has run low, or when he has been cast upon some desolate sea-bird island; and many anonymous anecdotes are told in the forecastle respecting it. But the most remarkable I have ever heard, bordering indeed upon the marvellous and incredible, if not itself a providential miracle, is the following, contained in substance in a letter from an officer in the 83rd regiment of the English army to his friends in Montreal. While the division to which the writer belonged was on its way to the Orient, being at the time a short distance eastward of the Cape, one of the men was severely flogged for some slight offence. Maddened at the punishment, the poor fellow was no sooner released than, in the sight of all his comrades and the ship's crew, he sprang overboard. There was a high sea running at the time, and, as the man swept on astern, all hope of saving him seemed to vanish. Relief, however, came from a quarter where no one ever dreamed of looking for it before. During the delay incident on lowering a boat, and while the crowd on deck were watching the form of the soldier struggling with the boiling waves, and growing every moment less distinct, a large albatross, such as are always found in those latitudes, coming like magic, with an almost imperceptible motion, approached and made a swoop at the man, who, in the agonies of the death-struggle, seized it, and held it firm in his grasp, and by this means kept afloat until assistance was rendered from the vessel.

Incredible as this story seems, the name and position of the writer of the letter, who was an eye-witness of the scene, places its authenticity beyond a doubt. But for the assistance thus afforded, no power on earth could have saved the soldier, as, in consequence of the tremendous sea running, a long time elapsed before the boat could be manned and got down. All this time the man was clinging to the bird, whose flutterings and struggles to escape

bore him up. Who, after this, should despair? A raging sea-a drowning man-an albatross; what eye could see safety under such circumstances? or who will dare to call this chance? Is it not rather a lesson intended to stimulate faith and hope, and teach us never to despair, since, in the darkest moment, when the waves dash, and the winds roar, and a gulf seems closing over our heads, there may be an albatross at hand, with a commission from Him to save us, of whom it is said, "As birds flying, so will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also He will deliver it; and passing over He will preserve it."...

There is another lesson taught me by this most majestic and beautiful of birds, for which I think I am a wiser man than before. We observe that when captured and set at liberty in the ship, it can never of itself rise from the even surface of the deck, though outwardly unconstrained and free; but we must toss the noble bird overboard, or lift him quite clear of the ship's rail, before he can use his glorious pinions and mount aloft into the air. Then he will stretch those ample wings, and sail away through space in the very poetry of motion.

Even so it is sometimes with the Christian. He is brought by Providence into straits and perplexities, whence he cannot rise and extricate himself alone, where the wings of faith and love seem to be of no avail to him, until a friendly hand lifts him up and throws him out upon the deep, where he must say, with trembling Peter, "Lord, save me." Then at once he loses despair; he surmounts the difficulty; he breaks his prison; he mounts up as on eagles' wings. Now the pinions of faith and love nobly sustain him, and bear him away aloft; and he wonders at the nightmare of doubt and fear that kept him from using them before.

Unconverted reader!

To-day an albatross, as it were, sweeps within reach

"The

of your perishing soul. Repent and believe the gospel." "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John iii. 16). gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom. vi. 23). Grasp that word. "Lay hold on eternal life." "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" (Acts xvi. 31).—Christian Ambassador.