'Havoc!' the shipwreck-demon cried,
Loos'd all his tempests on the tide,
Gave all his lightnings play."
J. Montgomery.
The case of La Marguerite, a small French brig that was rescued from great peril by a Margate lugger, assisted by the Ramsgate steamer and life-boat, will perhaps convey a sufficient idea of the difficulty and danger that frequently occur in rescuing vessels from positions of peril, and in bringing them in their damaged condition safely into port.
La Marguerite, a small French brig of 187 tons, is owned by her captain, an honest and brave French seaman, and represents to him a great part of the savings of many years' hard work and economy.
She is bound from Christiana to Dieppe with a cargo of deals; her hold is full, and her deck piled up and hampered with cargo almost to the level of her gunwale.
But on she goes rolling through the seas, with a fair wind and fine weather, and her crew suffer only that amount of discomfort which must always be the case when the deck of a vessel is so crowded with cargo.
The fresh breeze increases in force, and threatens a storm; the men close reef the topsails and speed on their way; they make the Orfordness light on the Essex coast, and then, correcting their course, steer for the Knock and Galloper lights, which are stationed to guard sands so named, and which are situated about eighteen miles from the North Foreland. The breeze lulls a little, and they shake out a reef in the sails; it is now getting somewhat thick—they soon make out a couple of lights, but they shine so dimly through the mists that the crew conclude that they are only fishermen's lights, and shaking out another reef, they run fast before the wind, carefully steering their course by the compass; but all this time a strong set of tide has been carrying them to the northward and westward; this they have not discovered, and are quite unaware that they are getting into a dangerous neighbourhood.