It was a very black and stormy night, and many sailors on the dock expressed fears that the vessel could not weather a storm in her heavily laden condition.
The trip she had to make was merely a matter of four hours, and the captain declared himself confident of bringing his vessel safely to port.
All went well till the Triton was within a few miles of her destination; when off the coast of Pinar del Rio she ran aground.
Those on board who were saved from the wreck said that the vessel was so heavily loaded that she was not able to take her usual course, and, because so much deeper in the water, ran aground on a bank that in her ordinary trips she could pass over without difficulty.
As long as the vessel had been cutting her way through the water, the heavy lading had caused little inconvenience, but when she grounded the waves began to wash over her decks, and cause much alarm to the passengers.
While the vessel was in great danger, she might still have been saved if it had not been for the mules. These beasts, becoming panic-stricken as the waves swept over the deck, stampeded to one side of the vessel, causing it to list over so much that the cargo shifted.
This is one of the most terrible accidents that can happen to a vessel.
The loading of a cargo is a very important thing, and is a business of itself. The men who direct it must understand just how to distribute the weight evenly in the hold, and how to pack the boxes and bales and barrels so tightly together that they cannot move, because if a cargo should shift it is liable to throw the ship out of her balance, and she is in danger of overturning and sinking.
This is what happened to the Triton. The mules and the shifted cargo together made such a heavy weight on one side that she keeled over, and within fifteen minutes of the time she first struck the bank she sank, carrying down with her one hundred and fifty of the passengers and crew.
The accident happened in the early dawn, when many of the people were asleep in their berths, and though the captain had them roused, and lowered the boats to try and take them off the sinking ship, the seas ran so high that the small boats were swamped, and it was impossible to save the unfortunate passengers.