A Lecture, Or Essay On the most efficacious means of Preserving The Lives Of Shipwrecked Sailors And The Shipwreck

20 The snatch block with a sling is for bringing the people in safety from the stranded vessel, and will be hereafter exemplified. Before I exhibit the application of these means of preservation, I must point out the code of signals I have devised between the shore and the ship for a mutual understanding, as the raging storm pre- cludes all possibility of oral communication ; and the most simple signals for this purpose are gestures of the human body. directions. The signal man or person in charge of the mortar will stand clear of the crowd, and. place himself in front of a small flag, and will, accord- ing- to the service required, put himself in the following attitudes :— No. 1.—Are you ready—or look out for the rope; we are preparing to launch a boat to you. No. 2.—Secure the rope ; bend a warp or hawser to it, for us to draw it on shore for the boat—or for us to send you a stout rope, to be made fast to some firm part of the wreck, that we may haul off a boat for bringing you in safety to the shore. No. 3.—Haul away—to receive a stout rope, snatch block with traveller, for working a cot, hammock, or sling. No. 4.___Haul on board sufficient of the line to ensure a continued communication for you to inclose yourselves in a clove hatch—take care, in jumping overboard, to clear the wreck.