Two
lines were made fast on either side of the heart, one to haul it
on shore, the other to haul it on board. On this the shipwreck'd
seated themselves, two or more at a time, and thus were dragged on
shore thro' a dashing surf, which broke frequently over their
heads, keeping them a considerable time under water, some of them
coming out of the water half drowned and a good deal bruised.
Captn. Hunter was a good deal hurt, and with repeated seas knock'd
off the grating, in so much that all the lookers-on feared greatly
for his letting go; but he got on shore safe, and his hurts are by
no means dangerous. Many private effects were saved, the sea
driving them on shore when thrown overboard, but 'twas not always
so courteous. Much is lost, and many escaped with nothing more
than they stood in."
Hunter and his crew were left at Norfolk Island [Sidenote: 1792]
for many weary months before a vessel could be obtained in which to send
them to England, and it was not until the end of the following March--a
year after the loss of their ship--that they sailed from Sydney in the
_Waaksamheyd_, a small Dutch _snow_.[D]
[Footnote D: A favourite rig of that period. A snow was similar to a brig,
except that she carried upon a small spar, just abaft the mainmast, a kind
of trysail, then called the spanker.
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