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

29 to be made fast; and great attention given, that both may. when required, be instantly cast off. This being arranged, and the people onshore observing a favourable opportunity they will haul the boat through the surf, and sheer it, should there be a great sweep of the sea, by the rope made fast to the quarter; thus a service can be performed, by comparatively few hands, that could not be effected by any number of people in the boat, from the want of steadiness of position at that time ; besides, the men on board are quiet during this process, and do not impede the boat rising to a sea, and further, prevent its filling, which probably would be the case in their attempting to haul themselves off. Thus, as soon as they find the dangers of the surf are passed, they would cast off, up sail, and stand away to the object requiring assistance. The advantages of the plan are, that no shore however flat, and no surf however numerous or distant, can prevent this applica- tion, which is particularly adapted to the shores of France and Hol- land, that are represented so peculiarly flat, and consequently the surfs so extensively distant, as to defy the possibility of going to the preservation either of life or property; for should the distance be o-reat, warps may be spliced together to produce the aid required, in the latter case, by passing the warp through a circular or oval ring, at a proper distance, to a small buoy, and there lashed by a clove hitch to one part of the rope ; the other part resting on the lower part of the ring, will prevent the warp endangering boats coming to the shore, either from being imbedded in the sand, or chafed by foul ground at the bottom, as here shown. In using it, the part of the rope to which the ring is made fast is hauled to the shore, and when brought in, the lashing- to the small buoy is cast off, and the warp ready for being applied as described.