ascertaining that all was fast below, descended with two of the
sailors into the hold, whither they carried with them for safety a
light in a patent lantern; and seeing that the lamp was burning dimly,
the officer took the precaution to hand it up to the orlop deck to be
trimmed. Having afterwards discovered that one of the spirit casks was
adrift, he sent a sailor for some billets of wood to secure it, but
the ship in his absence having made a heavy lurch, the officer
unfortunately dropped the light, and letting go of his hold of the
cask in his eagerness to recover the lantern, it suddenly stove, and,
the spirits communicating with the lamp, the whole place was
instantly in a blaze.
Major (afterwards Sir Duncan) McGregor, who was on board at the time
with his wife and family, says:--
"I received from Captain Spence, the captain of the day, the alarming
information that the ship was on fire in the after-hold. On hastening to
the hatchway whence smoke was slowly ascending, I found Captain Cobb and
other officers already giving orders, which seemed to be promptly obeyed
by seamen and troops, who were using every exertion by means of the
pumps, buckets of water, wet sails, hammocks, etc., to extinguish the
flames. With a view to excite the ladies' alarm as little as possible,
on conveying the intelligence to Colonel Faron, the commanding officer
of the troops, I knocked gently at the cabin door, and expressed a wish
to speak with him; but whether my countenance betrayed the state of my
feelings, or the increasing noise and confusion upon deck created
apprehension, I found it difficult to pacify some of the ladies by
assurances that no danger whatever was to be apprehended from the gale.
As long as the devouring element appeared to be confined to the spot
where the fire had originated, and which we were assured was surrounded
on all sides by water-casks, we ventured to cherish hopes that it might
be subdued; but no sooner was the light blue vapour that at first arose
succeeded by volumes of black dingy smoke, which speedily ascended
through all the four hatchways, rolled over every part of the ship, than
all further concealment became impossible, and almost all hope of
preserving the vessel was abandoned.
"In these awful circumstances, Captain Cobb, with an ability and
decision of character that seemed to increase with the imminence of the
danger, resorted to the only alternative now left him--of ordering the
lower decks to be scuttled, the combing of the hatches to be cut, and
the lower ports to be opened, for the free admission of the waves.
"These instructions were speedily executed by the united efforts of
the troops and seamen; but not before some of the sick soldiers, one
woman, and several children, unable to gain the upper deck, had
perished. On descending to the gun-deck with one or two officers of
the 31st Regiment to assist in opening the ports, I met, staggering
towards the hatchway, in an exhausted and nearly senseless state, one
of the mates, who informed us that he had just stumbled over the dead
bodies of some individuals who must have died of suffocation, to which
it was evident that he himself had almost fallen a victim. So dense
and oppressive was the smoke that it was with the utmost difficulty we
could remain long enough below to fulfil Captain Cobb's wishes; which
were no sooner accomplished than the sea rushed in with extraordinary
force, carrying away in its restless progress to the hold the largest
chests, bulkheads, etc."
The immense quantity of water that was thus introduced into the vessel
had, indeed, for a time the effect of checking the fury of the flames;
but the danger of sinking was increased as the risk of explosion, should
the fire reach the powder, was diminished. The ship became water-logged,
and presented other indications of settling previous to going down.
"The upper deck was covered with between six and seven hundred human
beings, many of whom from previous sea-sickness were forced on the
first alarm from below in a state of absolute nakedness, and were now
running about in quest of husbands, children, or parents. While some
were standing in silent resignation or in stupid insensibility to
their impending fate, others were yielding themselves up to the most
frantic despair. Several of the soldiers' wives and children, who had
fled for temporary shelter into the after cabins on the upper decks,
were engaged in prayer with the ladies, some of whom were enabled,
with wonderful self-possession, to offer to others spiritual
consolation; and the dignified deportment of two young ladies in
particular formed a specimen of natural strength of mind finely
modified by Christian feeling.
"Among the numerous objects that struck my observation at the period,
I was much affected by the appearance and conduct of some of the dear
children, who, quite unconscious in the cuddy cabin of the perils that
surrounded them, continued to play as usual with their little toys in
bed. To some of the older children, who seemed alive to the reality of
the danger, I whispered, 'Now is the time to put in practice the
instructions you have received at the regimental school and to think
of the Saviour.' They replied, as the tears ran down their cheeks, 'Oh
sir! we are trying to remember them, and we are praying to God.'
"It occurred to Mr. Thomson, the fourth mate, to send a man to the
foretop, rather with the ardent wish than with the expectation, that
some friendly sail might be discovered on the face of the waters. The
sailor, on mounting, threw his eyes round the horizon for a moment--a
moment of unutterable suspense--and, waving his hat, exclaimed, 'A
sail on the leeboard!'
"The joyful announcement was received with three cheers upon deck. Our
flags of distress were instantly hoisted and our minute guns fired;
and we endeavoured to bear down under our three topsails and foresail
upon the stranger, which afterwards proved to be the _Cambria_, a
small brig of 200 tons burden, having on board twenty or thirty
Cornish miners and other agents of the Anglo-Mexican Company.
"For ten or fifteen minutes we were left in doubt whether the brig
perceived our signals, or, perceiving them, was either disposed or
able to lend us any assistance. From the violence of the gale, it
seems that the report of our guns was not heard; but the ascending
volumes of smoke from the ship sufficiently announced the dreadful
nature of our distress, and we had the satisfaction, after a short
period of suspense, to see the brig hoist British colours and crowd
all sail to hasten to our relief.
"I confess that when I reflected on the long period our ship had
already been burning--on the tremendous sea that was running--on the
extreme smallness of the brig, and the immense number of human beings
to be saved--I could only venture to hope that a few might be spared;
but I durst not for a moment contemplate the possibility of my own
preservation."
To prevent the rush to the boats as they were being lowered, some of
the military officers were stationed over them with drawn swords.
Arrangements were made by Captain Cobb for placing in the first boat,
previous to letting it down, all the ladies and as many of the
soldiers' wives as it could safely contain. They hurriedly wrapped
themselves up in whatever articles of clothing could be found, and at
about 2 p.m. or 2.30 p.m. a mournful procession advanced from the aft
cabin to the starboard cuddy port, outside of which the cutter was
suspended. Scarcely a word was uttered; not a scream was heard. Even
the infants ceased to cry, as if conscious of the unspoken,
unspeakable anguish that was at that instant rending the hearts of
their parting parents--nor was the silence of voices in any way
broken, except in one or two cases, where the ladies plaintively
entreated permission to be left behind with their husbands.
Although Captain Cobb had used every precaution to diminish the danger
of the boat's descent, and for this purpose had stationed a man with an
axe to cut away the tackle from either extremity should the slightest
difficulty occur in unhooking it, yet the peril attending the whole
operation nearly proved fatal to its numerous inmates. After a couple of
unsuccessful attempts to place the frail bark fairly on the heaving
surface of the water, the command was given at length to unhook. The
tackle at the stern was, in consequence, immediately cleared; but the
ropes at the bow having got fast, the sailor there found it impossible
to obey the order. In vain was the axe applied to the entangled tackle.
The moment was inconceivably critical, as the boat, which necessarily
followed the motion of the ship, was gradually rising out of the water,
and must, in another instant, have been hanging perpendicularly by the
bow, and its helpless inmates in that event would have been shot down
into the boiling surf. But at that moment, providentially, a wave
suddenly struck and lifted the stern, so as to enable the seaman to
disentangle the tackle, and the boat, dexterously cleared from the
wreck, was seen after a little while from the poop battling with the
billows on its way to the _Cambria_, which prudently lay to at some
distance from the _Kent_, lest she should be involved in her explosion,
or exposed to the fire of her guns, which, being all shotted, afterwards
went off as the flames reached them successively.
The men had, accordingly, a considerable distance to row. The better
to balance the boat in the raging seas through which it had to make
its way, as also to enable the seamen to ply their oars, the women
and children were stowed promiscuously under the seats, and
consequently exposed to the risk of being drowned by the continual
dashing of the spray over their heads, which so filled the boat during
the passage, that before they arrived at the brig the poor creatures
were crouching up to their breasts in water, and their children kept
above it with the greatest difficulty by their numbed hands.
However, in the course of between twenty minutes and half an hour, the
little cutter was seen alongside the brig.
But the perils of the passage were not over; the boat was heaved up
against the side of the rolling and pitching _Cambria_, and the
difficulty of getting the women and children out of the cutter and on
to the deck was great. Moreover, the boat stood in imminent danger of
being stove in against the side of the brig whilst its passengers were
disembarking.
Here it was that the Cornish miners on board the _Cambria_ notably
distinguished themselves, and above all Joseph Warren from S. Just, a
famous wrestler. Being a man of enormous strength, he stood on the
chains and caught first the children as they were tossed to his arms,
passed them up on deck, and then lifted the women bodily from the boat
as it heaved up within his reach, and passed them over his head to the
men above.
The women showed great self-possession. They had been urged to avail
themselves of every favourable heave of the sea, by springing towards
the friendly arms that were extended to receive them; and
notwithstanding the deplorable consequence of making a false step, or
misjudging a distance, under such critical circumstances, not a single
accident occurred to any individual belonging to this first boat.
Three out of the six boats originally possessed by the _Kent_ were
swamped in the course of the day, one of them with men in it; and the
boats took three-quarters of an hour over each trip, so that night
settled down, adding to the difficulties and dangers, and bringing
ever nearer the prospect of the fire reaching the powder magazine and
blowing all who remained on board into eternity.
Sir Donald McGregor tells some pathetic stories of the rest of the
crew and passengers. One woman had vainly entreated to be allowed to
go to India with her husband, and when refused, had contrived to hide
herself in the vessel as a stowaway till it was well out at sea. As he
was endeavouring to reach one of the boats, he fell overboard, and his
head, coming between the heaving boat and the side of the ship, was
crushed like a nut in her sight. Sad instances occurred where a
husband had to make election between the saving of his wife and that
of his children. The courage of some utterly failed them. Nothing
would induce them to enter or try to enter one of the boats leaping on
the waves beside the burning ship. Rather than adventure that they
would remain and take their chances on the wreck. Some, making false
leaps into the boats, fell into the waves and were drowned.
At last all who could or would be saved were brought on board the
_Cambria_.
"After the arrival of the last boat, the flames, which had spread
along her upper deck and poop, ascended with the rapidity of lightning
to the masts and rigging, forming one general conflagration that
illumined the heavens, and was strongly reflected upon several objects
on board the brig.
"The flags of distress, hoisted in the morning, were seen for a
considerable time waving amid the flames, until the masts to which
they were suspended successively fell over the ship's sides. At last,
about 1.30 in the morning, the devouring element having communicated
to the magazine, the long-threatened explosion was seen, and the
blazing fragments of the once magnificent _Kent_ were instantly
hurried, like so many rockets, high into the air, leaving in the
comparative darkness that succeeded the dreadful scene of that
disastrous day floating before the mind like some feverish dream.
"I trust that you will keep in mind that Captain Cook's generous
intentions and exertions must have proved utterly unavailing for the
preservation of so many lives had they not been most nobly and
unremittingly supported by those of his mate and crew, as well as of
the numerous passengers on board his brig. While the former, only
eight in number, were usefully employed in watching the vessel, the
sturdy Cornish miners and Yorkshire smelters, on the approach of the
different boats, took their perilous station upon the chains, where
they put forth the great muscular strength with which Heaven had
endowed them, in dexterously seizing, at each successive heave of the
sea, on some of the exhausted people and dragging them upon deck. Nor
did their kind anxieties terminate there. They and the gentlemen
connected with them cheerfully opened their stores of clothes and
provisions, which they liberally dispensed to the naked and famished
sufferers; and they surrendered their beds to the helpless women and
children, and seemed, in short, during the whole passage to England,
to take no other delight than in ministering to all our wants."
Captain Cook of the _Cambria_ at once turned the vessel and steered
for Falmouth.
On reaching Falmouth report of the distressed condition of those who
had been rescued was sent to Colonel Fenwick, Lieutenant-Governor of
Pendennis Castle, and the people of Falmouth showed the utmost
kindness and hospitality to those who had been saved.
On the first Sunday after they had disembarked, Colonel Fearon, all
the officers and men, Captain Cobb and the sailors and passengers
attended church at Falmouth to give thanks to Almighty God for their
deliverance from a fearful death.
"FALMOUTH, _March 16th, 1825_.
"_To the Committee of the Inhabitants of Falmouth._
"GENTLEMEN,
"In tracing the various links in the ample chain of mercy and bounty
with which it has pleased a gracious Providence to surround the
numerous individuals lately rescued from the destruction of the Hon.
Company's ship _Kent_, we, the Lieut.-Col. Commanding, and officers
belonging to the right wing of the 31st Regiment, cannot but reflect
with increasing gratitude on the beneficence of that arrangement
whereby ourselves and our gallant men, after the awful and
afflicting calamity that befell us, were cast upon the sympathies of
the inhabitants of Falmouth and the adjacent towns, who have so
widely opened their hearts to feel, and munificently extended their
hands to provide for our numerous and necessary wants.
"We were thrown upon your shore as penniless strangers, and ye took
us in; we were hungry and ye gave us meat; naked and ye clothed us;
sick and ye relieved and comforted us. We have found you rejoicing
with those of us who rejoiced, and weeping with such of us as had
cause to weep. You have visited our fatherless and widows in their
affliction, and sought by increasing acts of the most seasonable,
effective, and delicate charity, to alleviate the measure of our
sufferings.
"Under such circumstances, what can we say, or where shall we find
words to express our emotions? You have created between us and our
beloved country an additional bond of affection and gratitude, that
will animate our future zeal, and enable us, amidst all the
vicissitudes of our professional life, to point out Falmouth to our
companions in arms as one of the bright spots in our happy land
where the friendless shall find many friends, and the afflicted
receive abundant consolation.
"In the name and on behalf of the officers of the
"Right Wing of the 31st Regiment,
"R. B. FEARON, Lieut-Col., 31st Foot."
Joseph Warren, the S. Just miner and wrestler who had so powerfully
assisted in the rescue of the unfortunates from the _Kent_, strained his
back in heaving up the women on deck, that ever after deprived him of
power to wrestle or exercise his ancient strength. One of the ladies
whom he had rescued paid him an annuity through the rest of his life,
and he died at his old home at S. Just-in-Penwith, 28th January, 1842.
VICE-ADMIRAL SIR CHARLES V.
PENROSE
The Penrose family is one of the most ancient in Cornwall. The name
signifies the Head of the Moor, and it belonged _par excellence_ to
the Land's End, where, at S. Sennen, we find the Penroses seated as
landed gentry from the time of Edward I. They had branches in Sithney,
Manaccan, and S. Anthony-in-Meneage. They mated with the best in the
county--the Trefusis, the Killigrews, the Eriseys, and the Boscawens.
One broke away from the circle of beautiful Celtic names, and took to
wife a daughter of Sir Anthony Buggs, Knt. Happy must the lady have
felt to cease to be Miss Buggs and become Madame Penrose!
Charles Vinicombe Penrose was the youngest son and child of the Rev.
John Penrose, vicar of Gluvias, and was born at Gluvias, June 20th,
1759. In the spring of 1775 he was appointed midshipman on board the
_Levant_ frigate, Captain Murray, under whose command he passed the
whole period of his service during the next twenty-two years of his
life, and who (with one trifling exception) was the only captain with
whom he ever sailed, either as midshipman or as lieutenant. In 1779
young Penrose was made lieutenant, and was appointed to the _Cleopatra_.
All the summer and a part of the winter of 1780 were passed in cruising
off the Flemish bank. Captain Murray was then sent with a small
squadron to intercept the trade which the Americans were carrying on
with Gothenburg by passing to the north of the Shetland Isles. The
biting cold made this a source of extreme hardship, and the young
lieutenant, now first lieutenant, suffered severely. The illness of the
captain, and the incapacity of some of the officers, threw on him almost
the whole care of the ship, and this under circumstances that required
the skill and caution of the seaman to be ever on the alert.
[Illustration: VICE-ADMIRAL SIR CHARLES V. PENROSE, K.C.B.]
"I had, however," he wrote, "no time to nurse myself, though I had
pleurisy, besides my chilblains. For these latter I used to have warm
vinegar and sal ammoniac brought frequently on deck, and, to allay the
raging pain, dipped thin gloves into the mixture, and put them on
under thick worsted mittens. At one time rheumatism had so got hold of
me that I was not able to stand, but lay wrapped up in flannel on an
arm-chest, on the forepart of the quarter-deck, to give my orders.
"On one occasion, in a severe gale, the ship covered with frozen snow,
the main topmast was carried away; we were the whole day clearing the
wreck, and I was much fatigued but obliged to keep the first watch. We
were lying to under bare poles, and I had sent all the men under
shelter except one man at the helm and the mate of the watch; and I
had, with much difficulty, cleared a place for myself between two of
the guns, where, holding by a rope, I could move two or three short
paces backwards and forwards. About nine o'clock my messmates sent to
ask if I would have anything, and I thoughtlessly ordered a glass of
warm brandy and water, which they as thoughtlessly sent. I drank about
half, and gave the rest to the mate. In a minute I felt a glow of
warmth. Health, animation, freedom from fatigue, all came in their
climax of comfort. The next minute I fell sleeping on the deck.
Fortunately for me, my comrade was an old seaman, and he instantly
knew my case and dragged me down the ladder. I was put to bed; was
badly treated, as I was rubbed with spirits; but after excruciating
pain, I recovered. Had the officer of the watch been a young gentleman
without experience, I should never have told my story."
In 1781 the _Cleopatra_ was in the action off the Dogger Bank, but in
1783 was paid off. "At this time," wrote Mr. Penrose, "after having
been for eleven years conversant only with nautical affairs, I really
felt a great puzzle to know how a shore life could be endured. I had
entered into my profession with all my heart, and was at this time as
nearly a fish as a finless animal can become."
In 1787 he married Miss Trevenen, the elder sister of his brother's
wife, and by her had three daughters. He was not at sea again till 1790,
when he accompanied Captain Murray in the _Defence_, and was engaged in
the West Indies. At the latter end of 1796 he was again returned to the
_Cleopatra_, in which ship he had the melancholy satisfaction of
conveying to England his friend and admiral, who had been seized with a
paralytic affection from which he never recovered. The voyage home was
tempestuous; but at length, and nearly at its close, the wind had come
right aft, and the captain, who, though ill, was on deck, believed
himself to be making rapid way up the Channel. On a sudden a light,
which he knew to be the Scilly light, flashed across him, and he saw
that he was between Scilly and the Land's End. He instantly stood to the
south, but had hardly changed his course when he saw, close astern in
the dark night, a wave break under the bow of a large ship, steering
exactly in the direction which he had left. "I never felt so sick
before," he wrote. "I felt certain that in an hour's time she would be
on the rocks, the wind blowing almost a storm. I shouted through the
trumpet, I threw up lights, and fired guns, to give the alarm, but with
the inward conviction at the time that it was all in vain--and so it
was. This ship was never heard of again; and though fragments of a wreck
were found the next morning on the coast near the Land's End, nothing
was discovered to indicate what wreck it was."
The _Cleopatra_, on her return to England, was laid up for some months
at Portsmouth in dock, and shortly after her repairs were completed
the mutiny broke out at Spithead. Captain Penrose had the satisfaction
that his own crew, from the beginning to the end of this anxious
period, stood firm to their duty; a consequence undoubtedly of the
manner in which he invariably treated his men, with kindly
consideration and as reasonable beings.