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The crew were at the forward end of the vessel; and when the wreck seemed ready to go to pieces, the second mate, Mr. Davis, came aft to the cabin with two sailors, and helped the passengers to a safer place.
This transfer was made terribly dangerous by the breaking surf.
The captain's wife, who went first, was once swept away, and was caught only by her hair.
Little Angelo was carried in a canvas bag, hung round the neck of a sailor.
Passengers and crew were now crowded round the foremast, as the part likely to last longest.
Here they remained for several hours.
Men were seen collecting on the beach, but there was no life-boat.
After a time, two sailors succeeded in reaching the shore, the one with a life-preserver, the other with a spar.
Then Mr. Davis, the courageous mate, bound the captain's wife to a plank, and swam with her to the shore, where she arrived almost lifeless.
The distance was less than a hundred yards, but the surf was fearful.
Madame Ossoli was urged to attempt the passage as Mrs. Hasty had done, but steadily refused to be separated from her husband and child.
Time was passing; the tide was out; the sea grew for the time a little calmer.
It was impossible to built a raft, and there was but this one chance of escape before the tide returned.
Still the husband and wife declined to be parted; and, seeing them resolute, the first mate ordered the crew to save themselves, and most of them leaped overboard.
It was now past three o'clock; they had been there twelve hours. At length the tide turned, and the gale rose higher.
The after part of the vessel broke away, and the foremast shook with every wave.
From this point the accounts vary, as is inevitable.
It seems however to be agreed, that the few remaining sailors had again advised the Ossolis to leave the wreck; and that the steward had just taken little Angelo in his arms to try to bear him ashore, when a more powerful
S. M. Betts and Company. Hartford, Conn. 1871.
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