CHAPTER III

THE BUILDING OF THE BELL ROCK

Off the mouths of the Tay and the Forth, thirteen miles from Fifeness,

eleven from Arbroath, and fourteen from the Red Head of Angus, lies the

Inchcape or Bell Rock. It extends to a length of about fourteen hundred

feet, but the part of it discovered at low water to not more than four

hundred and twenty-seven. At a little more than half-flood in fine

weather the seamless ocean joins over the reef, and at high-water

springs it is buried sixteen feet. As the tide goes down, the higher

reaches of the rock are seen to be clothed by _Conferva rupestris_ as by

a sward of grass; upon the more exposed edges, where the currents are

most swift and the breach of the sea heaviest, Baderlock or Henware

flourishes; and the great Tangle grows at the depth of several fathoms

with luxuriance. Before man arrived, and introduced into the silence of

the sea the smoke and clangour of a blacksmith's shop, it was a

favourite resting-place of seals. The crab and lobster haunt in the

crevices; and limpets, mussels, and the white buckie abound.

According to a tradition, a bell had been once hung upon this rock by an

abbot of Arbroath,[11] "and being taken down by a sea-pirate, a year

thereafter he perished upon the same rock, with ship and goods, in the

righteous judgment of God." From the days of the abbot and the

sea-pirate no man had set foot upon the Inchcape, save fishers from the

neighbouring coast, or perhaps--for a moment, before the surges

swallowed them--the unfortunate victims of shipwreck. The fishers

approached the rock with an extreme timidity; but their harvest appears

to have been great, and the adventure no more perilous than lucrative.

In 1800, on the occasion of my grandfather's first landing, and during

the two or three hours which the ebb-tide and the smooth water allowed

them to pass upon its shelves, his crew collected upwards of two

hundredweight of old metal: pieces of a kedge anchor and a cabin stove,

crow-bars, a hinge and lock of a door, a ship's marking-iron, a piece of

a ship's caboose, a soldier's bayonet, a cannon ball, several pieces of

money, a shoe-buckle, and the like. Such were the spoils of the Bell

Rock. But the number of vessels actually lost upon the reef was as

nothing to those that were cast away in fruitless efforts to avoid it.

Placed right in the fairway of two navigations, and one of these the

entrance to the only harbour of refuge between the Downs and the Moray

Firth, it breathed abroad along the whole coast an atmosphere of terror

and perplexity; and no ship sailed that part of the North Sea at night,

but what the ears of those on board would be strained to catch the

roaring of the seas on the Bell Rock.

From 1794 onward, the mind of my grandfather had been exercised with the

idea of a light upon this formidable danger. To build a tower on a sea

rock, eleven miles from shore, and barely uncovered at low water of

neaps, appeared a fascinating enterprise. It was something yet

unattempted, unessayed; and even now, after it has been lighted for more

than eighty years, it is still an exploit that has never been

repeated.[12] My grandfather was, besides, but a young man, of an

experience comparatively restricted, and a reputation confined to

Scotland; and when he prepared his first models, and exhibited them in

Merchants' Hall, he can hardly be acquitted of audacity. John Clerk of

Eldin stood his friend from the beginning, kept the key of the model

room, to which he carried "eminent strangers," and found words of

counsel and encouragement beyond price. "Mr. Clerk had been personally

known to Smeaton, and used occasionally to speak of him to me," says my

grandfather; and again: "I felt regret that I had not the opportunity of

a greater range of practice to fit me for such an undertaking; but I was

fortified by an expression of my friend Mr. Clerk in one of our

conversations. 'This work,' said he, 'is unique, and can be little

forwarded by experience of ordinary masonic operations. In this case

Smeaton's "Narrative" must be the text-book, and energy and perseverance

the pratique.'"

A Bill for the work was introduced into Parliament and lost in the Lords

in 1802-3. John Rennie was afterwards, at my grandfather's suggestion,

called in council, with the style of chief engineer. The precise meaning

attached to these words by any of the parties appears irrecoverable.

Chief engineer should have full authority, full responsibility, and a

proper share of the emoluments; and there were none of these for Rennie.

I find in an appendix a paper which resumes the controversy on this

subject; and it will be enough to say here that Rennie did not design

the Bell Rock, that he did not execute it, and that he was not paid for

it.[13] From so much of the correspondence as has come down to me, the

acquaintance of this man, eleven years his senior, and already famous,

appears to have been both useful and agreeable to Robert Stevenson. It

is amusing to find my grandfather seeking high and low for a brace of

pistols which his colleague had lost by the way between Aberdeen and

Edinburgh; and writing to Messrs. Dollond, "I have not thought it

necessary to trouble Mr. Rennie with this order, but _I beg you will see

to get two minutes of him as he passes your door_"--a proposal

calculated rather from the latitude of Edinburgh than from London, even

in 1807. It is pretty, too, to observe with what affectionate regard

Smeaton was held in mind by his immediate successors. "Poor old fellow,"

writes Rennie to Stevenson, "I hope he will now and then take a peep at

us, and inspire you with fortitude and courage to brave all difficulties

and dangers to accomplish a work which will, if successful, immortalise

you in the annals of fame." The style might be bettered, but the

sentiment is charming.

Smeaton was, indeed, the patron saint of the Bell Rock. Undeterred by

the sinister fate of Winstanley, he had tackled and solved the problem

of the Eddystone; but his solution had not been in all respects perfect.

It remained for my grandfather to outdo him in daring, by applying to a

tidal rock those principles which had been already justified by the

success of the Eddystone, and to perfect the model by more than one

exemplary departure. Smeaton had adopted in his floors the principle of

the arch; each therefore exercised an outward thrust upon the walls,

which must be met and combated by embedded chains. My grandfather's

flooring-stones, on the other hand, were flat, made part of the outer

wall, and were keyed and dovetailed into a central stone, so as to bind

the work together and be positive elements of strength. In 1703

Winstanley still thought it possible to erect his strange pagoda, with

its open gallery, its florid scrolls and candlesticks: like a rich man's

folly for an ornamental water in a park. Smeaton followed; then

Stevenson in his turn corrected such flaws as were left in Smeaton's

design; and with his improvements, it is not too much to say the model

was made perfect. Smeaton and Stevenson had between them evolved and

finished the sea-tower. No subsequent builder has departed in anything

essential from the principles of their design. It remains, and it seems

to us as though it must remain for ever, an ideal attained. Every stone

in the building, it may interest the reader to know, my grandfather had

himself cut out in the model; and the manner in which the courses were

fitted, joggled, trenailed, wedged, and the bond broken, is intricate as

a puzzle and beautiful by ingenuity.

In 1806 a second Bill passed both Houses, and the preliminary works were

at once begun. The same year the Navy had taken a great harvest of

prizes in the North Sea, one of which, a Prussian fishing dogger,

flat-bottomed and rounded at the stem and stern, was purchased to be a

floating lightship, and re-named the _Pharos_. By July 1807 she was

overhauled, rigged for her new purpose, and turned into the lee of the

Isle of May. "It was proposed that the whole party should meet in her

and pass the night; but she rolled from side to side in so extraordinary

a manner, that even the most seahardy fled. It was humorously observed

of this vessel that she was in danger of making a round turn and

appearing with her keel uppermost; and that she would even turn a

halfpenny if laid upon deck." By two o'clock on the morning of the 15th

July this purgatorial vessel was moored by the Bell Rock.

A sloop of forty tons had been in the meantime built at Leith, and named

the _Smeaton_: by the 7th of August my grandfather set sail in her--

"carrying with him Mr. Peter Logan, foreman builder, and five

artificers selected from their having been somewhat accustomed to the

sea, the writer being aware of the distressing trial which the

floating light would necessarily inflict upon landsmen from her

rolling motion. Here he remained till the 10th, and, as the weather

was favourable, a landing was effected daily, when the workmen were

employed in cutting the large seaweed from the sites of the

lighthouse and beacon, which were respectively traced with pickaxes

upon the rock. In the meantime the crew of the _Smeaton_ was employed

in laying down the several sets of moorings within about half a mile

of the rock for the convenience of vessels. The artificers, having,

fortunately, experienced moderate weather, returned to the workyard

of Arbroath with a good report of their treatment afloat; when their

comrades ashore began to feel some anxiety to see a place of which

they had heard so much, and to change the constant operations with

the iron and mallet in the process of hewing for an occasional tide's

work on the rock, which they figured to themselves as a state of

comparative ease and comfort."

I am now for many pages to let my grandfather speak for himself, and

tell in his own words the story of his capital achievement. The tall

quarto of 533 pages from which the following narrative has been dug out

is practically unknown to the general reader, yet good judges have

perceived its merit, and it has been named (with flattering wit) "The

Romance of Stone and Lime" and "The Robinson Crusoe of Civil

Engineering." The tower was but four years in the building; it took

Robert Stevenson, in the midst of his many avocations, no less than

fourteen to prepare the _Account_. The title-page is a solid piece of

literature of upwards of a hundred words; the table of contents runs to

thirteen pages; and the dedication (to that revered monarch, George IV)

must have cost him no little study and correspondence. Walter Scott was

called in council, and offered one miscorrection which still blots the

page. In spite of all this pondering and filing, there remain pages not

easy to construe, and inconsistencies not easy to explain away. I have

sought to make these disappear, and to lighten a little the baggage with

which my grandfather marches; here and there I have rejointed and

rearranged a sentence, always with his own words, and all with a

reverent and faithful hand; and I offer here to the reader the true

Monument of Robert Stevenson with a little of the moss removed from the

inscription, and the Portrait of the artist with some superfluous canvas

cut away.

I

OPERATIONS OF 1807

1807 Sunday, 16th Aug.

Everything being arranged for sailing to the rock on Saturday the 15th,

the vessel might have proceeded on the Sunday; but understanding that

this would not be so agreeable to the artificers it was deferred until

Monday. Here we cannot help observing that the men allotted for the

operations at the rock seemed to enter upon the undertaking with a

degree of consideration which fully marked their opinion as to the

hazardous nature of the undertaking on which they were about to enter.

They went in a body to church on Sunday, and whether it was in the

ordinary course, or designed for the occasion, the writer is not

certain, but the service was, in many respects, suitable to their

circumstances.

Monday, 17th Aug.

The tide happening to fall late in the evening of Monday the 17th, the

party, counting twenty-four in number, embarked on board of the

_Smeaton_ about ten o'clock p.m., and sailed from Arbroath with a gentle

breeze at west. Our ship's colours having been flying all day in

compliment to the commencement of the work, the other vessels in the

harbour also saluted, which made a very gay appearance. A number of the

friends and acquaintances of those on board having been thus collected,

the piers, though at a late hour, were perfectly crowded, and just as

the _Smeaton_ cleared the harbour, all on board united in giving three

hearty cheers, which were returned by those on shore in such good

earnest, that, in the still of the evening, the sound must have been

heard in all parts of the town, reechoing from the walls and lofty

turrets of the venerable Abbey of Aberbrothwick. The writer felt much

satisfaction at the manner of this parting scene, though he must own

that the present rejoicing was, on his part, mingled with occasional

reflections upon the responsibility of his situation, which extended to

the safety of all who should be engaged in this perilous work. With such

sensations he retired to his cabin; but as the artificers were rather

inclined to move about the deck than to remain in their confined berths

below, his repose was transient, and the vessel being small every motion

was necessarily heard. Some who were musically inclined occasionally

sung; but he listened with peculiar pleasure to the sailor at the helm,

who hummed over Dibdin's characteristic air:--

"They say there's a Providence sits up aloft,

To keep watch for the life of poor Jack."

Tuesday, 18th Aug.

The weather had been very gentle all night, and, about four in the

morning of the 18th, the _Smeaton_ anchored. Agreeably to an arranged

plan of operations, all hands were called at five o'clock a.m., just as

the highest part of the Bell Rock began to show its sable head among the

light breakers, which occasionally whitened with the foaming sea. The

two boats belonging to the floating light attended the _Smeaton_, to

carry the artificers to the rock, as her boat could only accommodate

about six or eight sitters. Every one was more eager than his neighbour

to leap into the boats, and it required a good deal of management on the

part of the coxswains to get men unaccustomed to a boat to take their

places for rowing and at the same time trimming her properly. The

landing-master and foreman went into one boat, while the writer took

charge of another, and steered it to and from the rock. This became the

more necessary in the early stages of the work, as places could not be

spared for more than two, or at most three, seamen to each boat, who

were always stationed, one at the bow, to use the boat-hook in fending

or pushing off, and the other at the aftermost oar, to give the proper

time in rowing, while the middle oars were double-banked, and rowed by

the artificers.

As the weather was extremely fine, with light airs of wind from the

east, we landed without difficulty upon the central part of the rock at

half-past five, but the water had not yet sufficiently left it for

commencing the work. This interval, however, did not pass unoccupied.

The first and last of all the principal operations at the Bell Rock were

accompanied by three hearty cheers from all hands, and, on occasions

like the present, the steward of the ship attended, when each man was

regaled with a glass of rum. As the water left the rock about six, some

began to bore the holes for the great bats or holdfasts, for fixing the

beams of the Beacon-house, while the smith was fully attended in laying

out the site of his forge, upon a somewhat sheltered spot of the rock,

which also recommended itself from the vicinity of a pool of water for

tempering his irons. These preliminary steps occupied about an hour, and

as nothing further could be done during this tide towards fixing the

forge, the workmen gratified their curiosity by roaming about the rock,

which they investigated with great eagerness till the tide overflowed

it. Those who had been sick picked dulse (_Fucus palmatus_), which they

ate with much seeming appetite; others were more intent upon collecting

limpets for bait, to enjoy the amusement of fishing when they returned

on board of the vessel. Indeed, none came away empty-handed, as

everything found upon the Bell Rock was considered valuable, being

connected with some interesting association. Several coins and numerous

bits of shipwrecked iron, were picked up, of almost every description;

and, in particular, a marking-iron lettered JAMES--a circumstance of

which it was thought proper to give notice to the public, as it might

lead to the knowledge of some unfortunate shipwreck, perhaps unheard of

till this simple occurrence led to the discovery. When the rock began to

be overflowed, the landing-master arranged the crews of the respective

boats, appointing twelve persons to each. According to a rule which the

writer had laid down to himself, he was always the last person who left

the rock.

In a short time the Bell Rock was laid completely under water, and the

weather being extremely fine, the sea was so smooth that its place could

not be pointed out from the appearance of the surface--a circumstance

which sufficiently demonstrates the dangerous nature of this rock, even

during the day, and in the smoothest and calmest state of the sea.

During the interval between the morning and the evening tides, the

artificers were variously employed in fishing and reading; others were

busy in drying and adjusting their wet clothes, and one or two amused

their companions with the violin and German flute.

About seven in the evening the signal bell for landing on the rock was

again rung, when every man was at his quarters. In this service it was

thought more appropriate to use the bell than to _pipe_ to quarters, as

the use of this instrument is less known to the mechanic than the sound

of the bell. The landing, as in the morning, was at the eastern harbour.

During this tide the seaweed was pretty well cleared from the site of

the operations, and also from the tracks leading to the different

landing-places; for walking upon the rugged surface of the Bell Rock,

when covered with seaweed, was found to be extremely difficult and even

dangerous. Every hand that could possibly be occupied was now employed

in assisting the smith to fit up the apparatus for his forge. At 9 p.m.

the boats returned to the tender, after other two hours' work, in the

same order as formerly--perhaps as much gratified with the success that

attended the work of this day as with any other in the whole course of

the operations. Although it could not be said that the fatigues of this

day had been great, yet all on board retired early to rest. The sea

being calm, and no movement on deck, it was pretty generally remarked in

the morning that the bell awakened the greater number on board from

their first sleep; and though this observation was not altogether

applicable to the writer himself, yet he was not a little pleased to

find that thirty people could all at once become so reconciled to a

night's quarters within a few hundred paces of the Bell Rock.

Wednesday, 19th Aug.

Being extremely anxious at this time to get forward with fixing the

smith's forge, on which the progress of the work at present depended,

the writer requested that he might be called at daybreak to learn the

landing-master's opinion of the weather from the appearance of the

rising sun, a criterion by which experienced seamen can generally judge

pretty accurately of the state of the weather for the following day.

About five o'clock, on coming upon deck, the sun's upper limb or disc

had just begun to appear as if rising from the ocean, and in less than a

minute he was seen in the fullest splendour; but after a short interval

he was enveloped in a soft cloudy sky, which was considered emblematical

of fine weather. His rays had not yet sufficiently dispelled the clouds

which hid the land from view, and the Bell Rock being still overflowed,

the whole was one expanse of water. This scene in itself was highly

gratifying; and, when the morning bell was tolled, we were gratified

with the happy forebodings of good weather and the expectation of having

both a morning and an evening tide's work on the rock.

The boat which the writer steered happened to be the last which

approached the rock at this tide; and, in standing up in the stern,

while at some distance, to see how the leading boat entered the creek,

he was astonished to observe something in the form of a human figure, in

a reclining posture, upon one of the ledges of the rock. He immediately

steered the boat through a narrow entrance to the eastern harbour, with

a thousand unpleasant sensations in his mind. He thought a vessel or

boat must have been wrecked upon the rock during the night; and it

seemed probable that the rock might be strewed with dead bodies, a

spectacle which could not fail to deter the artificers from returning so

freely to their work. In the midst of these reveries the boat took the

ground at an improper landing-place but, without waiting to push her

off, he leapt upon the rock, and making his way hastily to the spot

which had privately given him alarm, he had the satisfaction to

ascertain that he had only been deceived by the peculiar situation and

aspect of the smith's anvil and block, which very completely represented

the appearance of a lifeless body upon the rock. The writer carefully

suppressed his feelings, the simple mention of which might have had a

bad effect upon the artificers, and his haste passed for an anxiety to

examine the apparatus of the smith's forge, left in an unfinished state

at evening tide.

In the course of this morning's work two or three apparently distant

peals of thunder were heard, and the atmosphere suddenly became thick

and foggy. But as the _Smeaton_, our present tender, was moored at no

great distance from the rock, the crew on board continued blowing with

a horn, and occasionally fired a musket, so that the boats got to the

ship without difficulty.

Thursday, 20th Aug.

The wind this morning inclined from the north-east, and the sky had a

heavy and cloudy appearance, but the sea was smooth, though there was an

undulating motion on the surface, which indicated easterly winds, and

occasioned a slight surf upon the rock. But the boats found no

difficulty in landing at the western creek at half-past seven, and,

after a good tide's work, left it again about a quarter from eleven. In

the evening the artificers landed at half-past seven, and continued till

half-past eight, having completed the fixing of the smith's forge, his

vice, and a wooden board or bench, which were also batted to a ledge of

the rock, to the great joy of all, under a salute of three hearty

cheers. From an oversight on the part of the smith, who had neglected to

bring his tinder-box and matches from the vessel, the work was prevented

from being continued for at least an hour longer.

The smith's shop was, of course, in _open space_: the large bellows were

carried to and from the rock every tide, for the serviceable condition

of which, together with the tinder-box, fuel, and embers of the former

fire, the smith was held responsible. Those who have been placed in

situations to feel the inconveniency and want of this useful artisan,

will be able to appreciate his value in a case like the present. It

often happened, to our annoyance and disappointment, in the early state

of the work, when the smith was in the middle of a _favourite heat_ in

making some useful article, or in sharpening the tools, after the

flood-tide had obliged the pickmen to strike work, a sea would come

rolling over the rocks, dash out the fire, and endanger his

indispensable implement, the bellows. If the sea was smooth, while the

smith often stood at work knee-deep in water, the tide rose by

imperceptible degrees, first cooling the exterior of the fireplace, or

hearth, and then quietly blackening and extinguishing the fire from

below. The writer has frequently been amused at the perplexing anxiety

of the blacksmith when coaxing his fire and endeavouring to avert the

effects of the rising tide.

Friday, 21st Aug.

Everything connected with the forge being now completed, the artificers

found no want of sharp tools, and the work went forward with great

alacrity and spirit. It was also alleged that the rock had a more

habitable appearance from the volumes of smoke which ascended from the

smith's shop and the busy noise of his anvil, the operations of the

masons, the movements of the boats, and shipping at a distance--all

contributed to give life and activity to the scene. This noise and

traffic had, however, the effect of almost completely banishing the herd

of seals which had hitherto frequented the rock as a resting-place

during the period of low water. The rock seemed to be peculiarly adapted

to their habits, for, excepting two or three days at neap-tides, a part

of it always dries at low water--at least, during the summer season--and

as there was good fishing-ground in the neighbourhood, without a human

being to disturb or molest them, it had become a very favourite

residence of these amphibious animals, the writer having occasionally

counted from fifty to sixty playing about the rock at a time. But when

they came to be disturbed every tide, and their seclusion was broken in

upon by the kindling of great fires, together with the beating of

hammers and picks during low water, after hovering about for a time,

they changed their place, and seldom more than one or two were to be

seen about the rock upon the more detached outlayers which dry

partially, whence they seemed to look with that sort of curiosity which

is observable in these animals when following a boat.

Saturday, 22nd Aug.

Hitherto the artificers had remained on board the _Smeaton_, which was

made fast to one of the mooring buoys at a distance only of about a

quarter of a mile from the rock, and, of course, a very great

conveniency to the work. Being so near, the seamen could never be

mistaken as to the progress of the tide, or state of the sea upon the

rock, nor could the boats be much at a loss to pull on board of the

vessel during fog, or even in very rough weather; as she could be cast

loose from her moorings at pleasure, and brought to the lee side of the

rock. But the _Smeaton_ being only about forty register tons, her

accommodations were extremely limited. It may, therefore, be easily

imagined that an addition of twenty-four persons to her own crew must

have rendered the situation of those on board rather uncomfortable. The

only place for the men's hammocks on board being in the hold, they were

unavoidably much crowded: and if the weather had required the hatches to

be fastened down, so great a number of men could not possibly have been

accommodated. To add to this evil, the _co-boose_ or cooking-place being

upon deck, it would not have been possible to have cooked for so large a

company in the event of bad weather.

The stock of water was now getting short, and some necessaries being

also wanted for the floating light, the _Smeaton_ was despatched for

Arbroath; and the writer, with the artificers, at the same time shifted

their quarters from her to the floating light.

Although the rock barely made its appearance at this period of the tides

till eight o'clock, yet, having now a full mile to row from the floating

light to the rock, instead of about a quarter of a mile from the

moorings of the _Smeaton_, it was necessary to be earlier astir, and to

form different arrangements; breakfast was accordingly served up at

seven o'clock this morning. From the excessive motion of the floating

light, the writer had looked forward rather with anxiety to the removal

of the workmen to this ship. Some among them, who had been

congratulating themselves upon having become sea-hardy while on board

the _Smeaton_, had a complete relapse upon returning to the floating

light. This was the case with the writer. From the spacious and

convenient berthage of the floating light, the exchange to the

artificers was, in this respect, much for the better. The boats were

also commodious, measuring sixteen feet in length on the keel, so that,

in fine weather, their complement of sitters was sixteen persons for

each, with which, however, they were rather crowded, but she could not

stow two boats of larger dimensions. When there was what is called a

breeze of wind, and a swell in the sea, the proper number for each boat

could not, with propriety, be rated at more than twelve persons.

When the tide-bell rung the boats were hoisted out, and two active

seamen were employed to keep them from receiving damage alongside. The

floating light being very buoyant, was so quick in her motions that when

those who were about to step from her gunwale into a boat, placed

themselves upon a cleat or step on the ship's side, with the man or rail

ropes in their hands, they had often to wait for some time till a

favourable opportunity occurred for stepping into the boat. While in

this situation, with the vessel rolling from side to side, watching the

proper time for letting go the man-ropes, it required the greatest

dexterity and presence of mind to leap into the boats. One who was

rather awkward would often wait a considerable period in this position:

at one time his side of the ship would be so depressed that he would

touch the boat to which he belonged, while the next sea would elevate

him so much that he would see his comrades in the boat on the opposite

side of the ship, his friends in the one boat calling to him to "Jump,"

while those in the boat on the other side, as he came again and again

into their view, would jocosely say, "Are you there yet? You seem to

enjoy a swing." In this situation it was common to see a person upon

each side of the ship for a length of time, waiting to quit his hold.

On leaving the rock to-day a trial of seamanship was proposed amongst

the rowers, for by this time the artificers had become tolerably expert

in this exercise. By inadvertency some of the oars provided had been

made of fir instead of ash, and although a considerable stock had been

laid in, the workmen, being at first awkward in the art, were constantly

breaking their oars; indeed it was no uncommon thing to see the broken

blades of a pair of oars floating astern, in the course of a passage

from the rock to the vessel. The men, upon the whole, had but little

work to perform in the course of a day; for though they exerted

themselves extremely hard while on the rock, yet, in the early state of

the operations, this could not be continued for more than three or four

hours at a time, and as their rations were large--consisting of one

pound and a half of beef, one pound of ship biscuit, eight ounces

oatmeal, two ounces barley, two ounces butter, three quarts of small

beer, with vegetables and salt--they got into excellent spirits when

free of sea-sickness. The rowing of the boats against each other became

a favourite amusement, which was rather a fortunate circumstance, as it

must have been attended with much inconvenience had it been found

necessary to employ a sufficient number of sailors for this purpose. The

writer, therefore, encouraged this spirit of emulation, and the speed of

their respective boats became a favourite topic. Premiums for boat-races

were instituted, which were contended for with great eagerness, and the

respective crews kept their stations in the boats with as much precision

as they kept their beds on board of the ship. With these and other

pastimes, when the weather was favourable, the time passed away among

the inmates of the forecastle and waist of the ship. The writer looks

back with interest upon the hours of solitude which he spent in this

lonely ship with his small library.

This being the first Saturday that the artificers were afloat, all hands

were served with a glass of rum and water at night, to drink the

sailors' favourite toast of "Wives and Sweethearts." It was customary,

upon these occasions, for the seamen and artificers to collect in the

galley, when the musical instruments were put in requisition: for,

according to invariable practice, every man must play a tune, sing a

song, or tell a story.

Sunday, 23rd Aug.

Having, on the previous evening, arranged matters with the

landing-master as to the business of the day, the signal was rung for

all hands at half-past seven this morning. In the early state of the

spring-tides the artificers went to the rock before breakfast, but as

the tides fell later in the day, it became necessary to take this meal

before leaving the ship. At eight o'clock all hands were assembled on

the quarter-deck for prayers, a solemnity which was gone through in as

orderly a manner as circumstances would admit. When the weather

permitted, the flags of the ship were hung up as an awning or screen,

forming the quarter-deck into a distinct compartment; the pendant was

also hoisted at the mainmast, and a large ensign flag was displayed over

the stern; and lastly, the ship's companion, or top of the staircase,

was covered with the _flag proper_ of the Lighthouse Service, on which

the Bible was laid. A particular toll of the bell called all hands to

the quarter-deck, when the writer read a chapter of the Bible, and, the

whole ship's company being uncovered, he also read the impressive prayer

composed by the Reverend Dr. Brunton, one of the ministers of Edinburgh.

Upon concluding this service, which was attended with becoming reverence

and attention, all on board retired to their respective berths to

breakfast, and, at half-past nine, the bell again rung for the

artificers to take their stations in their respective boats. Some demur

having been evinced on board about the propriety of working on Sunday,

which had hitherto been touched upon as delicately as possible, all

hands being called aft, the writer, from the quarter-deck, stated

generally the nature of the service, expressing his hopes that every man

would feel himself called upon to consider the erection of a lighthouse

on the Bell Rock, in every point of view, as a work of necessity and

mercy. He knew that scruples had existed with some, and these had,

indeed, been fairly and candidly urged before leaving the shore; but it

was expected that, after having seen the critical nature of the rock,

and the necessity of the measure, every man would now be satisfied of

the propriety of embracing all opportunities of landing on the rock when

the state of the weather would permit. The writer further took them to

witness that it did not proceed from want of respect for the

appointments and established forms of religion that he had himself

adopted the resolution of attending the Bell Rock works on the Sunday;

but, as he hoped, from a conviction that it was his bounden duty, on the

strictest principles of morality. At the same time it was intimated

that, if any were of a different opinion, they should be perfectly at

liberty to hold their sentiments without the imputation of contumacy or

disobedience; the only difference would be in regard to the pay.

Upon stating this much, he stepped into his boat, requesting all who

were so disposed to follow him. The sailors, from their habits, found no

scruple on this subject, and all of the artificers, though a little

tardy, also embarked, excepting four of the masons, who, from the

beginning, mentioned that they would decline working on Sundays. It may

here be noticed that throughout the whole of the operations it was

observable that the men wrought, if possible, with more keenness upon

the Sundays than at other times, from an impression that they were

engaged in a work of imperious necessity, which required every possible

exertion. On returning to the floating light, after finishing the tide's

work, the boats were received by the part of the ship's crew left on

board with the usual attention of handing ropes to the boats and helping

the artificers on board; but the four masons who had absented themselves

from the work did not appear upon deck.

Monday, 24th Aug.

The boats left the floating light at a quarter-past nine o'clock this

morning, and the work began at three-quarters past nine; but as the

neap-tides were approaching the working time at the rock became

gradually shorter, and it was now with difficulty that two and a half

hours' work could be got. But so keenly had the workmen entered into the

spirit of the Beacon-house operations, that they continued to bore the

holes in the rock till some of them were knee-deep in water.

The operations at this time were entirely directed to the erection of

the beacon, in which every man felt an equal interest, as at this

critical period the slightest casualty to any of the boats at the rock

might have been fatal to himself individually, while it was perhaps

peculiar to the writer more immediately to feel for the safety of the

whole. Each log or upright beam of the beacon was to be fixed to the

rock by two strong and massive bats or stanchions of iron. These bats,

for the fixture of the principal and diagonal beams and bracing chains,

required fifty-four holes, each measuring two inches in diameter and

eighteen inches in depth. There had already been so considerable a

progress made in boring and excavating the holes that the writer's hopes

of getting the beacon erected this year began to be more and more

confirmed, although it was now advancing towards what was considered the

latter end of the proper working season at the Bell Rock. The foreman

joiner, Mr. Francis Watt, was accordingly appointed to attend at the

rock to-day, when the necessary levels were taken for the step or seat

of each particular beam of the beacon, that they might be cut to their

respective lengths, to suit the inequalities of the rock; several of the

stanchions were also tried into their places, and other necessary

observations made, to prevent mistakes on the application of the

apparatus, and to facilitate the operations when the beams came to be

set up, which would require to be done in the course of a single tide.

Tuesday, 25th Aug.

We had now experienced an almost unvaried tract of light airs of

easterly wind, with clear weather in the fore-part of the day and fog in

the evenings. To-day, however, it sensibly changed; when the wind came

to the south-west, and blew a fresh breeze. At nine a.m. the bell rung,

and the boats were hoisted out, and though the artificers were now

pretty well accustomed to tripping up and down the sides of the floating

light, yet it required more seamanship this morning than usual. It

therefore afforded some merriment to those who had got fairly seated in

their respective boats to see the difficulties which attended their

companions, and the hesitating manner in which they quitted hold of the

man-ropes in leaving the ship. The passage to the rock was tedious, and

the boats did not reach it till half-past ten.

It being now the period of neap-tides, the water only partially left the

rock, and some of the men who were boring on the lower ledges of the

site of the beacon stood knee-deep in water. The situation of the smith

to-day was particularly disagreeable, but his services were at all times

indispensable. As the tide did not leave the site of the forge, he stood

in the water, and as there was some roughness on the surface it was with

considerable difficulty that, with the assistance of the sailors, he was

enabled to preserve alive his fire; and, while his feet were immersed in

water, his face was not only scorched but continually exposed to volumes

of smoke, accompanied with sparks from the fire, which were occasionally

set up owing to the strength and direction of the wind.

Wednesday, 26th Aug

The wind had shifted this morning to N.N.W., with rain, and was blowing

what sailors call a fresh breeze. To speak, perhaps, somewhat more

intelligibly to the general reader, the wind was such that a

fishing-boat could just carry full sail. But as it was of importance,

specially in the outset of the business, to keep up the spirit of

enterprise for landing on all practicable occasions, the writer, after

consulting with the landing-master, ordered the bell to be rung for

embarking, and at half-past eleven the boats reached the rock, and left

it again at a quarter-past twelve, without, however, being able to do

much work, as the smith could not be set to work from the smallness of

the ebb and the strong breach of sea, which lashed with great force

among the bars of the forge.

Just as we were about to leave the rock the wind shifted to the S.W.,

and, from a fresh gale, it became what seamen term a hard gale, or such

as would have required the fisherman to take in two or three reefs in

his sail. It is a curious fact that the respective tides of ebb and

flood are apparent upon the shore about an hour and a half sooner than

at the distance of three or four miles in the offing. But what seems

chiefly interesting here is that the tides around this small sunken rock

should follow exactly the same laws as on the extensive shores of the

mainland. When the boats left the Bell Rock to-day it was overflowed by

the flood-tide, but the floating light did not swing round to the

flood-tide for more than an hour afterwards. Under this disadvantage the

boats had to struggle with the ebb-tide and a hard gale of wind, so that

it was with the greatest difficulty they reached the floating light. Had

this gale happened in spring-tides when the current was strong we must

have been driven to sea in a very helpless condition.

The boat which the writer steered was considerably behind the other,

one of the masons having unluckily broken his oar. Our prospect of

getting on board, of course, became doubtful, and our situation was

rather perilous, as the boat shipped so much sea that it occupied two of

the artificers to bale and clear her of water. When the oar gave way we

were about half a mile from the ship, but, being fortunately to

windward, we got into the wake of the floating light, at about 250

fathoms astern, just as the landing-master's boat reached the vessel. He

immediately streamed or floated a life-buoy astern, with a line which

was always in readiness, and by means of this useful implement the boat

was towed alongside of the floating light, where, from her rolling

motion, it required no small management to get safely on board, as the

men were worn out with their exertions in pulling from the rock. On the

present occasion the crews of both boats were completely drenched with

spray, and those who sat upon the bottom of the boats to bale them were

sometimes pretty deep in the water before it could be cleared out. After

getting on board, all hands were allowed an extra dram, and, having

shifted and got a warm and comfortable dinner, the affair, it is

believed, was little more thought of.

Thursday, 27th Aug.

The tides were now in that state which sailors term the dead of the

neap, and it was not expected that any part of the rock would be seen

above water to-day; at any rate, it was obvious, from the experience of

yesterday, that no work could be done upon it, and therefore the

artificers were not required to land. The wind was at west, with light

breezes, and fine clear weather; and as it was an object with the writer

to know the actual state of the Bell Rock at neap-tides, he got one of

the boats manned, and, being accompanied by the landing-master, went to

it at a quarter-past twelve. The parts of the rock that appeared above

water being very trifling, were covered by every wave, so that no

landing was made. Upon trying the depth of water with a boat-hook,

particularly on the sites of the lighthouse and beacon, on the former,

at low water, the depth was found to be three feet, and on the central

parts of the latter it was ascertained to be two feet eight inches.

Having made these remarks, the boat returned to the ship at two p.m.,

and the weather being good, the artificers were found amusing themselves

with fishing. The _Smeaton_ came from Arbroath this afternoon, and made

fast to her moorings, having brought letters and newspapers, with

parcels of clean linen, etc., for the workmen, who were also made happy

by the arrival of three of their comrades from the workyard ashore. From

these men they not only received all the news of the workyard, but

seemed themselves to enjoy great pleasure in communicating whatever they

considered to be interesting with regard to the rock. Some also got

letters from their friends at a distance, the postage of which for the

men afloat was always free, so that they corresponded the more readily.

The site of the building having already been carefully traced out with

the pick-axe, the artificers this day commenced the excavation of the

rock for the foundation or first course of the lighthouse. Four men only

were employed at this work, while twelve continued at the site of the

beacon-house, at which every possible opportunity was embraced, till

this essential part of the operations should be completed.

Wednesday 2nd Sept.

The floating light's bell rung this morning at half-past four o'clock,

as a signal for the boats to be got ready, and the landing took place at

half-past five. In passing the _Smeaton_ at her moorings near the rock,

her boat followed with eight additional artificers who had come from

Arbroath with her at last trip, but there being no room for them in the

floating light's boats, they had continued on board. The weather did not

look very promising in the morning, the wind blowing pretty fresh from

W.S.W.: and had it not been that the writer calculated upon having a

vessel so much at command, in all probability he would not have ventured

to land. The _Smeaton_ rode at what sailors call a _salvagee_, with a

cross-head made fast to the floating buoy. This kind of attachment was

found to be more convenient than the mode of passing the hawser through

the ring of the buoy when the vessel was to be made fast. She had then

only to be steered very close to the buoy, when the salvagee was laid

hold of with a boat-hook, and the _bite_ of the hawser thrown over the

cross-head. But the salvagee, by this method, was always left at the

buoy, and was, of course, more liable to chafe and wear than a hawser

passed through the ring, which could be wattled with canvas, and shifted

at pleasure. The salvagee and cross method is, however, much practised;

but the experience of this morning showed it to be very unsuitable for

vessels riding in an exposed situation for any length of time.

Soon after the artificers landed they commenced work; but the Wind

coming to blow hard, the _Smeaton's_ boat and crew, who had brought

their complement of eight men to the rock, went off to examine her

riding ropes, and see that they were in proper order. The boat had no

sooner reached the vessel than she went adrift, carrying the boat along

with her. By the time that she was got round to make a tack towards the

rock, she had drifted at least three miles to leeward, with the praam

boat astern; and, having both the Wind and a tide against her, the

writer perceived, with no little anxiety, that she could not possibly

return to the rock till long after its being overflowed; for, owing to

the anomaly of the tides formerly noticed, the Bell Rock is completely

under water when the ebb abates to the offing.

In this perilous predicament, indeed, he found himself placed between

hope and despair--but certainly the latter was by much the most

predominant feeling of his mind--situate upon a sunken rock in the

middle of the ocean, which, in the progress of the flood-tide, was to be

laid under water to the depth of at least twelve feet in a stormy sea.

There were this morning thirty-two persons in all upon the rock, with

only two boats, whose complement, even in good weather, did not exceed

twenty-four sitters; but to row to the floating light with so much wind,

and in so heavy a sea, a complement of eight men for each boat was as

much as could, with propriety, be attempted, so that, in this way, about

one-half of our number was unprovided for. Under these circumstances,

had the writer ventured to despatch one of the boats in expectation of

either working the _Smeaton_ sooner up towards the rock, or in hopes of

getting her boat brought to our assistance, this must have given an

immediate alarm to the artificers, each of whom would have insisted upon

taking to his own boat, and leaving the eight artificers belonging to

the _Smeaton_ to their chance. Of course a scuffle might have ensued,

and it is hard to say, in the ardour of men contending for life, where

it might have ended. It has even been hinted to the writer that a party

of the _pickmen_ were determined to keep exclusively to their own boat

against all hazards.

The unfortunate circumstance of the _Smeaton_ and her boat having

drifted was, for a considerable time, only known to the writer and to

the landing-master, who removed to the farther point of the rock, where

he kept his eye steadily upon the progress of the vessel. While the

artificers were at work, chiefly in sitting or kneeling postures,

excavating the rock, or boring with the jumpers, and while their

numerous hammers, with the sound of the smith's anvil, continued, the

situation of things did not appear so awful. In this state of suspense,

with almost certain destruction at hand, the water began to rise upon

those who were at work on the lower parts of the sites of the beacon and

lighthouse. From the run of sea upon the rock, the forge fire was also

sooner extinguished this morning than usual, and the volumes of smoke

having ceased, objects in every direction became visible from all parts

of the rock. After having had about three hours' work, the men began,

pretty generally, to make towards their respective boats for their

jackets and stockings, when, to their astonishment, instead of three,

they found only two boats, the third being adrift with the _Smeaton_.

Not a word was uttered by any one, but all appeared to be silently

calculating their numbers, and looking to each other with evident marks

of perplexity depicted in their countenances. The landing-master,

conceiving that blame might be attached to him for allowing the boat to

leave the rock, still kept at a distance. At this critical moment the

author was standing upon an elevated part of Smith's Ledge, where he

endeavoured to mark the progress of the _Smeaton_, not a little

surprised that her crew did not cut the praam adrift, which greatly

retarded her way, and amazed that some effort was not making to bring at

least the boat, and attempt our relief. The workmen looked steadfastly

upon the writer, and turned occasionally towards the vessel, still far

to leeward.[14] All this passed in the most perfect silence, and the

melancholy solemnity of the group made an impression never to be effaced

from his mind.

The writer had all along been considering of various schemes--providing

the men could be kept under command--which might be put in practice for

the general safety, in hopes that the _Smeaton_ might be able to pick up

the boats to leeward, when they were obliged to leave the rock. He was,

accordingly, about to address the artificers on the perilous nature of

their circumstances, and to propose that all hands should unstrip their

upper clothing when the higher parts of the rock were laid under water;

that the seamen should remove every unnecessary weight and encumbrance

from the boats; that a specified number of men should go into each boat,

and that the remainder should hang by the gunwales, while the boats were

to be rowed gently towards the _Smeaton_, as the course to the _Pharos_,

or floating light, lay rather to windward of the rock. But when he

attempted to speak his mouth was so parched that his tongue refused

utterance, and he now learned by experience that the saliva is as

necessary as the tongue itself for speech. He turned to one of the pools

on the rock and lapped a little water, which produced immediate relief.

But what was his happiness, when on rising from this unpleasant

beverage, some one called out, "A boat! a boat!" and, on looking around,

at no great distance, a large boat was seen through the haze making

towards the rock. This at once enlivened and rejoiced every heart. The

timeous visitor proved to be James Spink, the Bell Rock pilot, who had

come express from Arbroath with letters. Spink had for some time seen

the _Smeaton_, and had even supposed, from the state of the weather,

that all hands were on board of her till he approached more nearly and

observed people upon the rock; but not supposing that the assistance of

his boat was necessary to carry the artificers off the rock, he anchored

on the lee-side and began to fish, waiting, as usual, till the letters

were sent for, as the pilot-boat was too large and unwieldy for

approaching the rock when there was any roughness or run of the sea at

the entrance of the landing creeks.

Upon this fortunate change of circumstances, sixteen of the artificers

were sent, at two trips, in one of the boats, with instructions for

Spink to proceed with them to the floating light. This being

accomplished, the remaining sixteen followed in the two boats belonging

to the service of the rock. Every one felt the most perfect happiness at

leaving the Bell Rock this morning, though a very hard and dangerous

passage to the floating light still awaited us, as the wind by this time

had increased to a pretty hard gale, accompanied with a considerable

swell of sea. Every one was as completely drenched in water as if he had

been dragged astern of the boats. The writer, in particular, being at

the helm, found, on getting on board, that his face and ears were

completely coated with a thin film of salt from the sea spray, which

broke constantly over the bows of the boat. After much baling of water

and severe work at the oars, the three boats reached the floating light,

where some new difficulties occurred in getting on board in safety,

owing partly to the exhausted state of the men, and partly to the

violent rolling of the vessel.

As the tide flowed, it was expected that the _Smeaton_ would have got to

windward; but, seeing that all was safe, after tacking for several hours

and making little progress, she bore away for Arbroath, with the

praam-boat. As there was now too much wind for the pilot-boat to return

to Arbroath, she was made fast astern of the floating light, and the

crew remained on board till next day, when the weather moderated. There

can be very little doubt that the appearance of James Spink with his

boat on this critical occasion was the means of preventing the loss of

lives at the rock this morning. When these circumstances, some years

afterwards, came to the knowledge of the Board, a small pension was

ordered to our faithful pilot, then in his seventieth year; and he still

continues to wear the uniform clothes and badge of the Lighthouse

service. Spink is a remarkably strong man, whose _tout ensemble_ is

highly characteristic of a North-country fisherman. He usually dresses

in a _pe-jacket_, cut after a particular fashion, and wears a large,

flat, blue bonnet. A striking likeness of Spink in his pilot-dress, with

the badge or insignia on his left arm which is characteristic of the

boatmen in the service of the Northern Lights, has been taken by Howe,

and is in the writer's possession.

Thursday, 3rd. Sept.

The bell rung this morning at five o'clock, but the writer must

acknowledge, from the circumstances of yesterday, that its sound was

extremely unwelcome. This appears also to have been the feelings of the

artificers, for when they came to be mustered, out of twenty-six, only

eight, besides the foreman and seamen, appeared upon deck to accompany

the writer to the rock. Such are the baneful effects of anything like

misfortune or accident connected with a work of this description. The

use of argument to persuade the men to embark in cases of this kind

would have been out of place, as it is not only discomfort, or even the

risk of the loss of a limb, but life itself that becomes the question.

The boats, notwithstanding the thinness of our ranks, left the vessel at

half-past five. The rough weather of yesterday having proved but a

summer's gale, the wind came to-day in gentle breezes; yet, the

atmosphere being cloudy, it had not a very favourable appearance. The

boats reached the rock at six a.m., and the eight artificers who landed

were employed in clearing out the bat-holes for the beacon-house, and

had a very prosperous tide of four hours' work, being the longest yet

experienced by half an hour.

The boats left the rock again at ten o'clock, and the weather having

cleared up as we drew near the vessel, the eighteen artificers who had

remained on board were observed upon deck, but as the boats approached

they sought their way below, being quite ashamed of their conduct. This

was the only instance of refusal to go to the rock which occurred during

the whole progress of the work, excepting that of the four men who

declined working upon Sunday, a case which the writer did not conceive

to be at all analogous to the present. It may here be mentioned, much to

the credit of these four men, that they stood foremost in embarking for

the rock this morning.

Saturday, 5th Sept.

It was fortunate that a landing was not attempted this evening, for at

eight o'clock the wind shifted to E.S.E., and at ten it had become a

hard gale, when fifty fathoms of the floating light's hempen cable were

veered out. The gale still increasing, the ship rolled and laboured

excessively, and at midnight eighty fathoms of cable were veered out;

while the sea continued to strike the vessel with a degree of force

which had not before been experienced.

Sunday, 6th Sept.

During the last night there was little rest on board of the _Pharos_,

and daylight, though anxiously wished for, brought no relief, as the

gale continued with unabated violence. The sea struck so hard upon the

vessel's bows that it rose in great quantities, or in "green seas," as

the sailors termed it, which were carried by the wind as far aft as the

quarter-deck, and not unfrequently over the stern of the ship

altogether. It fell occasionally so heavily on the skylight of the

writer's cabin, though so far aft as to be within five feet of the helm,

that the glass was broken to pieces before the dead-light could be got

into its place, so that the water poured down in great quantities. In

shutting out the water, the admission of light was prevented, and in the

morning all continued in the most comfortless state of darkness. About

ten o'clock a.m. the wind shifted to N.E., and blew, if possible, harder

than before, and it was accompanied by a much heavier swell of sea. In

the course of the gale, the part of the cable in the hause-hole had been

so often shifted that nearly the whole length of one of her hempen

cables, of 120 fathoms, had been veered out, besides the chain-moorings.

The cable, for its preservation, was also carefully served or wattled

with pieces of canvas round the windlass, and with leather well greased

in the hause-hole. In this state things remained during the whole day,

every sea which struck the vessel--and the seas followed each other in

close succession--causing her to shake, and all on board occasionally to

tremble. At each of these strokes of the sea the rolling and pitching of

the vessel ceased for a time, and her motion was felt as if she had

either broke adrift before the wind or were in the act of sinking; but,

when another sea came, she ranged up against it with great force, and

this became the regular intimation of our being still riding at anchor.

About eleven o'clock, the writer with some difficulty got out of bed,

but, in attempting to dress, he was thrown twice upon the floor at the

opposite end of the cabin. In an undressed state he made shift to get

about half-way up the companion-stairs, with an intention to observe the

state of the sea and of the ship upon deck; but he no sooner looked over

the companion than a heavy sea struck the vessel, which fell on the

quarter-deck, and rushed downstairs in the officers' cabin in so

considerable a quantity that it was found necessary to lift one of the

scuttles in the floor, to let the water into the limbers of the ship, as

it dashed from side to side in such a manner as to run into the lower

tier of beds. Having been foiled in this attempt, and being completely

wetted, he again got below and went to bed. In this state of the weather

the seamen had to move about the necessary or indispensable duties of

the ship with the most cautious use both of hands and feet, while it

required all the art of the landsman to keep within the precincts of his

bed. The writer even found himself so much tossed about that it became

necessary, in some measure, to shut himself in bed, in order to avoid

being thrown upon the floor. Indeed, such was the motion of the ship

that it seemed wholly impracticable to remain in any other than a lying

posture. On deck the most stormy aspect presented itself, while below

all was wet and comfortless.

About two o'clock p.m. a great alarm was given throughout the ship from

the effects of a very heavy sea which struck her, and almost filled the

waist, pouring down into the berths below, through every chink and

crevice of the hatches and skylights. From the motion of the vessel

being thus suddenly deadened or checked, and from the flowing in of the

water above, it is believed there was not an individual on board who did

not think, at the moment, that the vessel had foundered, and was in the

act of sinking. The writer could withstand this no longer, and as soon

as she again began to range to the sea he determined to make another

effort to get upon deck. In the first instance, however, he groped his

way in darkness from his own cabin through the berths of the officers,

where all was quietness. He next entered the galley and other

compartments occupied by the artificers. Here also all was shut up in

darkness, the fire having been drowned out in the early part of the

gale. Several of the artificers were employed in prayer, repeating

psalms and other devotional exercises in a full tone of voice; others

protesting that, if they should fortunately get once more on shore, no

one should ever see them afloat again. With the assistance of the

landing-master, the writer made his way, holding on step by step, among

the numerous impediments which lay in the way. Such was the creaking

noise of the bulkheads or partitions, the dashing of the water, and the

whistling noise of the winds, that it was hardly possible to break in

upon such a confusion of sounds. In one or two instances, anxious and

repeated inquiries were made by the artificers as to the state of things

upon deck, to which the captain made the usual answer, that it could not

blow long in this way, and that we must soon have better weather. The

next berth in succession, moving forward in the ship, was that allotted

for the seamen. Here the scene was considerably different. Having

reached the middle of this darksome berth without its inmates being

aware of any intrusion, the writer had the consolation of remarking

that, although they talked of bad weather and the cross accidents of the

sea, yet the conversation was carried on in that sort of tone and manner

which bespoke an ease and composure of mind highly creditable to them

and pleasing to him. The writer immediately accosted the seamen about

the state of the ship. To these inquiries they replied that the vessel

being light, and having but little hold of the water, no top-rigging,

with excellent ground-tackle, and everything being fresh and new, they

felt perfect confidence in their situation.

It being impossible to open any of the hatches in the fore part of the

ship in communicating with the deck, the watch was changed by passing

through the several berths to the companion-stair leading to the

quarter-deck. The writer, therefore, made the best of his way aft, and,

on a second attempt to look out, he succeeded, and saw indeed an

astonishing sight. The sea or waves appeared to be ten or fifteen feet

in height of unbroken water, and every approaching billow seemed as if

it would overwhelm our vessel, but she continued to rise upon the waves

and to fall between the seas in a very wonderful manner. It seemed to be

only those seas which caught her in the act of rising which struck her

with so much violence and threw such quantities of water aft. On deck

there was only one solitary individual looking out, to give the alarm in

the event of the ship breaking from her moorings. The seaman on watch

continued only two hours; he who kept watch at this time was a tall,

slender man of a black complexion; he had no greatcoat nor over-all of

any kind, but was simply dressed in his ordinary jacket and trousers;

his hat was tied under his chin with a napkin, and he stood aft the

foremast, to which he had lashed himself with a gasket or small rope

round his waist, to prevent his falling upon deck or being washed

overboard. When the writer looked up, he appeared to smile, which

afforded a further symptom of the confidence of the crew in their ship.

This person on watch was as completely wetted as if he had been drawn

through the sea, which was given as a reason for his not putting on a

greatcoat, that he might wet as few of his clothes as possible, and have

a dry shift when he went below. Upon deck everything that was movable

was out of sight, having either been stowed below, previous to the gale,

or been washed overboard. Some trifling parts of the quarter boards were

damaged by the breach of the sea; and one of the boats upon deck was

about one-third full of water, the oyle-hole or drain having been

accidentally stopped up, and part of her gunwale had received

considerable injury. These observations were hastily made, and not

without occasionally shutting the companion, to avoid being wetted by

the successive seas which broke over the bows and fell upon different

parts of the deck according to the impetus with which the waves struck

the vessel. By this time it was about three o'clock in the afternoon,

and the gale, which had now continued with unabated force for

twenty-seven hours, had not the least appearance of going off.

In the dismal prospect of undergoing another night like the last, and

being in imminent hazard of parting from our cable, the writer thought

it necessary to advise with the master and officers of the ship as to

the probable event of the vessel's drifting from her moorings. They

severally gave it as their opinion that we had now every chance of

riding out the gale, which, in all probability, could not continue with

the same fury many hours longer; and that even if she should part from

her anchor, the storm-sails had been laid to hand, and could be bent in

a very short time. They further stated that from the direction of the

wind being N.E., she would sail up the Firth of Forth to Leith Roads.

But if this should appear doubtful, after passing the Island and Light

of May, it might be advisable at once to steer for Tyningham Sands, on

the western side of Dunbar, and there run the vessel ashore. If this

should happen at the time of high-water, or during the ebbing of the

tide, they were of opinion, from the flatness and strength of the

floating light, that no danger would attend her taking the ground, even

with a very heavy sea. The writer, seeing the confidence which these

gentlemen possessed with regard to the situation of things, found

himself as much relieved with this conversation as he had previously

been with the seeming indifference of the forecastle-men, and the smile

of the watch upon deck, though literally lashed to the foremast. From

this time he felt himself almost perfectly at ease; at any rate, he was

entirely resigned to the ultimate result.

About six o'clock in the evening the ship's company was heard moving

upon deck, which on the present occasion was rather the cause of alarm.

The writer accordingly rang his bell to know what was the matter, when

he was informed by the steward that the weather looked considerably

better, and that the men upon deck were endeavouring to ship the

smoke-funnel of the galley that the people might get some meat. This was

a more favourable account than had been anticipated. During the last

twenty-one hours he himself had not only had nothing to eat, but he had

almost never passed a thought on the subject. Upon the mention of a

change of weather, he sent the steward to learn how the artificers felt,

and on his return he stated that they now seemed to be all very happy,

since the cook had begun to light the galley-fire and make preparations

for the suet-pudding of Sunday, which was the only dish to be attempted

for the mess, from the ease with which it could both be cooked and

served up.

The principal change felt upon the ship as the wind abated was her

increased rolling motion, but the pitching was much diminished, and now

hardly any sea came farther aft than the foremast: but she rolled so

extremely hard as frequently to dip and take in water over the gunwales

and rails in the waist. By nine o'clock all hands had been refreshed by

the exertions of the cook and steward, and were happy in the prospect of

the worst of the gale being over. The usual complement of men was also

now set on watch, and more quietness was experienced throughout the

ship. Although the previous night had been a very restless one, it had

not the effect of inducing repose in the writer's berth on the

succeeding night; for having been so much tossed about in bed during the

last thirty hours, he found no easy spot to turn to, and his body was

all sore to the touch, which ill accorded with the unyielding materials

with which his bed-place was surrounded.

Monday, 7th Sept.

This morning, about eight o'clock, the writer was agreeably surprised to

see the scuttle of his cabin skylight removed, and the bright rays of

the sun admitted. Although the ship continued to roll excessively, and

the sea was still running very high, yet the ordinary business on board

seemed to be going forward on deck. It was impossible to steady a

telescope, so as to look minutely at the progress of the waves and trace

their breach upon the Bell Rock; but the height to which the

cross-running waves rose in sprays when they met each other was truly

grand, and the continued roar and noise of the sea was very perceptible

to the ear. To estimate the height of the sprays at forty or fifty feet

would surely be within the mark. Those of the workmen who were not much

afflicted with sea-sickness came upon deck, and the wetness below being

dried up, the cabins were again brought into a habitable state. Every

one seemed to meet as if after a long absence, congratulating his

neighbour upon the return of good weather. Little could be said as to

the comfort of the vessel, but after riding out such a gale, no one felt

the least doubt or hesitation as to the safety and good condition of her

moorings. The master and mate were extremely anxious, however, to heave

in the hempen cable, and see the state of the clinch or iron ring of the

chain-cable. But the vessel rolled at such a rate that the seamen could

not possibly keep their feet at the windlass nor work the handspikes,

though it had been several times attempted since the gale took off.

About twelve noon, however, the vessel's motion was observed to be

considerably less, and the sailors were enabled to walk upon deck with

some degree of freedom. But, to the astonishment of every one, it was

soon discovered that the floating light was adrift! The windlass was

instantly manned, and the men soon gave out that there was no strain

upon the cable. The mizzen sail, which was bent for the occasional

purpose of making the vessel ride more easily to the tide, was

immediately set, and the other sails were also hoisted in a short time,

when, in no small consternation, we bore away about one mile to the

south-westward of the former station, and there let go the best bower

anchor and cable in twenty fathoms water, to ride until the swell of the

sea should fall, when it might be practicable to grapple for the

moorings, and find a better anchorage for the ship.

Tuesday, 15th Sept.

This morning, at five a.m., the bell rung as a signal for landing upon

the rock, a sound which, after a lapse of ten days, it is believed was

welcomed by every one on board. There being a heavy breach of sea at

the eastern creek, we landed, though not without difficulty, on the

western side, every one seeming more eager than another to get upon the

rock; and never did hungry men sit down to a hearty meal with more

appetite than the artificers began to pick the dulse from the rocks.

This marine plant had the effect of reviving the sickly, and seemed to

be no less relished by those who were more hardy.

While the water was ebbing, and the men were roaming in quest of their

favourite morsel, the writer was examining the effects of the storm upon

the forge and loose apparatus left upon the rock. Six large blocks of

granite which had been landed, by way of experiment, on the 1st instant,

were now removed from their places and, by the force of the sea, thrown

over a rising ledge into a hole at the distance of twelve or fifteen

paces from the place on which they had been landed. This was a pretty

good evidence both of the violence of the storm and the agitation of the

sea upon the rock. The safety of the smith's forge was always an object

of essential regard. The ash-pan of the hearth or fireplace, with its

weighty cast-iron back, had been washed from their places of supposed

security; the chains of attachment had been broken, and these ponderous

articles were found at a very considerable distance in a hole on the

western side of the rock; while the tools and picks of the Aberdeen

masons were scattered about in every direction. It is, however,

remarkable that not a single article was ultimately lost.

This being the night on which the floating light was advertised to be

lighted, it was accordingly exhibited, to the great joy of every one.

Wednesday, 16th Sept.

The writer was made happy to-day by the return of the Lighthouse yacht

from a voyage to the Northern Lighthouses. Having immediately removed on

board of this fine vessel of eighty-one tons register, the artificers

gladly followed; for, though they found themselves more pinched for

accommodation on board of the yacht, and still more so in the _Smeaton_,

yet they greatly preferred either of these to the _Pharos_, or floating

light, on account of her rolling motion, though in all respects fitted

up for their conveniency.

The writer called them to the quarter-deck and informed them that,

having been one month afloat, in terms of their agreement they were now

at liberty to return to the workyard at Arbroath if they preferred this

to continuing at the Bell Rock. But they replied that, in the prospect

of soon getting the beacon erected upon the rock, and having made a

change from the floating light, they were now perfectly reconciled to

their situation, and would remain afloat till the end of the working

season.

Thursday, 17th Sept.

The wind was at N.E. this morning, and though there were only light

airs, yet there was a pretty heavy swell coming ashore upon the rock.

The boats landed at half-past seven o'clock a.m., at the creek on the

southern side of the rock, marked Port Hamilton. But as one of the boats

was in the act of entering this creek, the seaman at the bow-oar, who

had just entered the service, having inadvertently expressed some fear

from a heavy sea which came rolling towards the boat, and one of the

artificers having at the same time looked round and missed a stroke with

his oar, such a preponderance was thus given to the rowers upon the

opposite side that when the wave struck the boat it threw her upon a

ledge of shelving rocks, where the water left her, and she having

_kanted_ to seaward, the next wave completely filled her with water.

After making considerable efforts the boat was again got afloat in the

proper track of the creek, so that we landed without any other accident

than a complete ducking. There being no possibility of getting a shift

of clothes, the artificers began with all speed to work, so as to bring

themselves into heat, while the writer and his assistants kept as much

as possible in motion. Having remained more than an hour upon the rock,

the boats left it at half-past nine; and, after getting on board, the

writer recommended to the artificers, as the best mode of getting into a

state of comfort, to strip off their wet clothes and go to bed for an

hour or two. No further inconveniency was felt, and no one seemed to

complain of the affection called "catching cold."

Friday, 18th Sept.

An important occurrence connected with the operations of this season was

the arrival of the _Smeaton_ at four p.m., having in tow the six

principal beams of the beacon-house, together with all the stanchions

and other work on board for fixing it on the rock. The mooring of the

floating light was a great point gained, but in the erection of the

beacon at this late period of the season new difficulties presented

themselves. The success of such an undertaking at any season was

precarious, because a single day of bad weather occurring before the

necessary fixtures could be made might sweep the whole apparatus from

the rock. Notwithstanding these difficulties, the writer had determined

to make the trial, although he could almost have wished, upon looking at

the state of the clouds and the direction of the wind, that the

apparatus for the beacon had been still in the workyard.

Saturday, 19th Sept.

The main beams of the beacon were made up in two separate rafts, fixed

with bars and bolts of iron. One of these rafts, not being immediately

wanted, was left astern of the floating light, and the other was kept in

tow by the _Smeaton_, at the buoy nearest to the rock. The Lighthouse

yacht rode at another buoy with all hands on board that could possibly

be spared out of the floating light. The party of artificers and seamen

which landed on the rock counted altogether forty in number. At

half-past eight o'clock a derrick, or mast of thirty feet in height, was

erected and properly supported with guy-ropes, for suspending the block

for raising the first principal beam of the beacon; and a winch machine

was also bolted down to the rock for working the purchase-tackle.

Upon raising the derrick, all hands on the rock spontaneously gave three

hearty cheers, as a favourable omen of our future exertions in pointing

out more permanently the position of the rock. Even to this single spar

of timber, could it be preserved, a drowning man might lay hold. When

the _Smeaton_ drifted on the 2nd of this month such a spar would have

been sufficient to save us till she could have come to our relief.

Sunday, 20th Sept.

The wind this morning was variable, but the weather continued extremely

favourable for the operations throughout the whole day. At six a.m. the

boats were in motion, and the raft, consisting of four of the six

principal beams of the beacon-house, each measuring about sixteen inches

square, and fifty feet in length, was towed to the rock, where it was

anchored, that it might _ground_ upon it as the water ebbed. The sailors

and artificers, including all hands, to-day counted no fewer than

fifty-two, being perhaps the greatest number of persons ever collected

upon the Bell Rock. It was early in the tide when the boats reached the

rock, and the men worked a considerable time up to their middle in

water, every one being more eager than his neighbour to be useful. Even

the four artificers who had hitherto declined working on Sunday were

to-day most zealous in their exertions. They had indeed become so

convinced of the precarious nature and necessity of the work that they

never afterwards absented themselves from the rock on Sunday when a

landing was practicable.

Having made fast a piece of very good new line, at about two-thirds from

the lower end of one of the beams, the purchase-tackle of the derrick

was hooked into the turns of the line, and it was speedily raised by the

number of men on the rock and the power of the winch tackle. When this

log was lifted to a sufficient height, its foot, or lower end, was

_stepped_ into the spot which had been previously prepared for it. Two

of the great iron stanchions were then set in their respective holes on

each side of the beam, when a rope was passed round them and the beam,

to prevent it from slipping till it could be more permanently fixed. The

derrick, or upright spar used for carrying the tackle to raise the first

beam, was placed in such a position as to become useful for supporting

the upper end of it, which now became, in its turn, the prop of the

tackle for raising the second beam. The whole difficulty of this

operation was in the raising and propping of the first beam, which

became a convenient derrick for raising the second, these again a pair

of shears for lifting the third, and the shears a triangle for raising

the fourth. Having thus got four of the six principal beams set on end,

it required a considerable degree of trouble to get their upper ends to

fit. Here they formed the apex of a cone, and were all together mortised

into a large piece of beechwood, and secured, for the present, with

ropes, in a temporary manner. During the short period of one tide all

that could further be done for their security was to put a single

screw-bolt through the great kneed bats or stanchions on each side of

the beams, and screw the nut home.

In this manner these four principal beams were erected, and left in a

pretty secure state. The men had commenced while there was about two or

three feet of water upon the side of the beacon, and as the sea was

smooth they continued the work equally long during flood-tide. Two of

the boats being left at the rock to take off the joiners, who were

busily employed on the upper parts till two o'clock p.m., this tide's

work may be said to have continued for about seven hours, which was the

longest that had hitherto been got upon the rock by at least three

hours.

When the first boats left the rock with the artificers employed on the

lower part of the work during the flood-tide, the beacon had quite a

novel appearance. The beams erected formed a common base of about

thirty-three feet, meeting at the top, which was about forty-five feet

above the rock, and here half a dozen of the artificers were still at

work. After clearing the rock the boats made a stop, when three hearty

cheers were given, which were returned with equal goodwill by those upon

the beacon, from the personal interest which every one felt in the

prosperity of this work, so intimately connected with his safety.

All hands having returned to their respective ships, they got a shift of

dry clothes and some refreshment. Being Sunday, they were afterwards

convened by signal on board of the Lighthouse yacht, when prayers were

read; for every heart upon this occasion felt gladness, and every mind

was disposed to be thankful for the happy and successful termination of

the operations of this day.

Monday, 21st Sept.

The remaining two principal beams were erected in the course of this

tide, which, with the assistance of those set up yesterday, was found to

be a very simple operation.

Tuesday, 22nd Sept.

The six principal beams of the beacon were thus secured, at least in a

temporary manner, in the course of two tides, or in the short space of

about eleven hours and a half. Such is the progress that may be made

when active hands and willing minds set properly to work in operations

of this kind. Having now got the weighty part of this work over, and

being thereby relieved of the difficulty both of landing and victualling

such a number of men, the _Smeaton_ could now be spared, and she was

accordingly despatched to Arbroath for a supply of water and provisions,

and carried with her six of the artificers who could best be spared.

Wednesday, 23rd Sept.

In going out of the eastern harbour, the boat which the writer steered

shipped a sea, that filled her about one-third with water. She had also

been hid for a short time, by the waves breaking upon the rock, from the

sight of the crew of the preceding boat, who were much alarmed for our

safety, imagining for a time that she had gone down.

The _Smeaton_ returned from Arbroath this afternoon, but there was so

much sea that she could not be made fast to her moorings, and the vessel

was obliged to return to Arbroath without being able either to deliver

the provisions or take the artificers on board. The Lighthouse yacht was

also soon obliged to follow her example, as the sea was breaking heavily

over her bows. After getting two reefs in the mainsail, and the third or

storm-jib set, the wind being S.W., she bent to windward, though blowing

a hard gale, and got into St. Andrews Bay, where we passed the night

under the lee of Fifeness.

Thursday, 24th Sept.

At two o'clock this morning we were in St. Andrews Bay, standing off and

on shore, with strong gales of wind at S.W.; at seven we were off the

entrance of the Tay; at eight stood towards the rock, and at ten passed

to leeward of it, but could not attempt a landing. The beacon, however,

appeared to remain in good order, and by six p.m. the vessel had again

beaten up to St. Andrews Bay, and got into somewhat smoother water for

the night.

Friday, 25th Sept.

At seven o'clock bore away for the Bell Rock, but finding a heavy sea

running on it were unable to land. The writer, however, had the

satisfaction to observe, with his telescope, that everything about the

beacon appeared entire; and although the sea had a most frightful

appearance, yet it was the opinion of every one that, since the erection

of the beacon, the Bell Rock was divested of many of its terrors, and

had it been possible to have got the boats hoisted out and manned, it

might have even been found practicable to land. At six it blew so hard

that it was found necessary to strike the topmast and take in a third

reef of the mainsail, and under this low canvas we soon reached St.

Andrews Bay, and got again under the lee of the land for the night. The

artificers, being sea-hardy, were quite reconciled to their quarters on

board of the Lighthouse yacht; but it is believed that hardly any

consideration would have induced them again to take up their abode in

the floating light.

Saturday, 26th Sept.

At daylight the yacht steered towards the Bell Rock, and at eight a.m.

made fast to her moorings; at ten, all hands, to the amount of thirty,

landed, when the writer had the happiness to find that the beacon had

withstood the violence of the gale and the heavy breach of sea,

everything being found in the same state in which it had been left on

the 21st. The artificers were now enabled to work upon the rock

throughout the whole day, both at low and high water, but it required

the strictest attention to the state of the weather, in case of their

being overtaken with a gale, which might prevent the possibility of

getting them off the rock.

Two somewhat memorable circumstances in the annals of the Bell Rock

attended the operations of this day: one was the removal of Mr. James

Dove, the foreman smith, with his apparatus, from the rock to the upper

part of the beacon, where the forge was now erected on a temporary

platform, laid on the cross beams or upper framing. The other was the

artificers having dined for the first time upon the rock, their dinner

being cooked on board of the yacht, and sent to them by one of the

boats. But what afforded the greatest happiness and relief was the

removal of the large bellows, which had all along been a source of much

trouble and perplexity, by their hampering and incommoding the boat

which carried the smiths and their apparatus.

Saturday, 3rd Oct.

The wind being west to-day, the weather was very favourable for

operations at the rock, and during the morning and evening tides, with

the aid of torchlight, the masons had seven hours' work upon the site of

the building. The smiths and joiners, who landed at half-past six a.m.,

did not leave the rock till a quarter-past eleven p.m., having been at

work, with little intermission, for sixteen hours and three-quarters.

When the water left the rock, they were employed at the lower parts of

the beacon, and as the tide rose or fell, they shifted the place of

their operations. From these exertions, the fixing and securing of the

beacon made rapid advancement, as the men were now landed in the

morning, and remained throughout the day. But, as a sudden change of

weather might have prevented their being taken off at the proper time of

tide, a quantity of bread and water was always kept on the beacon.

During this period of working at the beacon all the day, and often a

great part of the night, the writer was much on board of the tender;

but, while the masons could work on the rock, and frequently also while

it was covered by the tide, he remained on the beacon; especially during

the night, as he made a point of being on the rock to the latest hour,

and was generally the last person who stepped into the boat. He had laid

this down as part of his plan of procedure; and in this way had

acquired, in the course of the first season, a pretty complete knowledge

and experience of what could actually be done at the Bell Rock, under

all circumstances of the weather. By this means also his assistants, and

the artificers and mariners, got into a systematic habit of proceeding

at the commencement of the work, which, it is believed, continued

throughout the whole of the operations.

Sunday, 4th Oct.

The external part of the beacon was now finished, with its supports and

bracing-chains, and whatever else was considered necessary for its

stability, in so far as the season would permit; and although much was

still wanting to complete this fabric, yet it was in such a state that

it could be left without much fear of the consequences of a storm. The

painting of the upper part was nearly finished this afternoon and the

_Smeaton_ had brought off a quantity of brushwood and other articles,

for the purpose of heating or charring the lower part of the principal

beams, before being laid over with successive coats of boiling pitch, to

the height of from eight to twelve feet, or as high as the rise of

spring-tides. A small flagstaff having also been erected to-day, a flag

was displayed for the first time from the beacon, by which its

perspective effect was greatly improved. On this, as on all like

occasions at the Bell Rock, three hearty cheers were given; and the

steward served out a dram of rum to all hands, while the Lighthouse

yacht, _Smeaton_, and floating light, hoisted their colours in

compliment to the erection.

Monday, 5th Oct.

In the afternoon, and just as the tide's work was over, Mr. John Rennie,

engineer, accompanied by his son Mr. George, on their way to the harbour

works of Fraserburgh, in Aberdeenshire, paid a visit to the Bell Rock,

in a boat from Arbroath. It being then too late in the tide for landing,

they remained on board of the Lighthouse yacht all night, when the

writer, who had now been secluded from society for several weeks,

enjoyed much of Mr. Rennie's interesting conversation, both on general

topics, and professionally upon the progress of the Bell Rock works, on

which he was consulted as chief engineer.

Tuesday, 6th Oct.

The artificers landed this morning at nine, after which one of the boats

returned to the ship for the writer and Messrs. Rennie, who, upon

landing, were saluted with a display of the colours from the beacon and

by three cheers from the workmen. Everything was now in a prepared state

for leaving the rock, and giving up the works afloat for this season,

excepting some small articles, which would still occupy the smiths and

joiners for a few days longer. They accordingly shifted on board of the

_Smealon_, while the yacht left the rock for Arbroath, with Messrs.

Rennie, the writer, and the remainder of the artificers. But, before

taking leave, the steward served out a farewell glass, when three hearty

cheers were given, and an earnest wish expressed that everything, in the

spring of 1808, might be found in the same state of good order as it was

now about to be left.

II

OPERATIONS OF 1808

Monday, 29th Feb.

The writer sailed from Arbroath at one a.m. in the Lighthouse yacht. At

seven the floating light was hailed, and all on board found to be well.

The crew were observed to have a very healthy-like appearance, and

looked better than at the close of the works upon the rock. They seemed

only to regret one thing, which was the secession of their cook, Thomas

Elliot--not on account of his professional skill, but for his facetious

and curious manner. Elliot had something peculiar in his history, and

was reported by his comrades to have seen better days. He was, however,

happy with his situation on board of the floating light, and having a

taste for music, dancing, and acting plays, he contributed much to the

amusement of the ship's company in their dreary abode during the winter

months. He had also recommended himself to their notice as a good

shipkeeper for as it did not answer Elliot to go often ashore, he had

always given up his turn of leave to his neighbours. At his own desire

he was at length paid off, when he had a considerable balance of wages

to receive, which he said would be sufficient to carry him to the West

Indies, and he accordingly took leave of the Lighthouse service.

Tuesday, 1st March.

At daybreak the Lighthouse yacht, attended by a boat from the floating

light, again stood towards the Bell Rock. The weather felt extremely

cold this morning, the thermometer being at 34 degrees, with the wind at

east, accompanied by occasional showers of snow, and the marine

barometer indicated 29.80. At half-past seven the sea ran with such

force upon the rock that it seemed doubtful if a landing could be

effected. At half-past eight, when it was fairly above water, the writer

took his place in the floating light's boat with the artificers, while

the yacht's boat followed, according to the general rule of having two

boats afloat in landing expeditions of this kind, that, in case of

accident to one boat, the other might assist. In several unsuccessful

attempts the boats were beat back by the breach of the sea upon the

rock. On the eastern side it separated into two distinct waves, which

came with a sweep round to the western side, where they met; and at the

instance of their confluence the water rose in spray to a considerable

height. Watching what the sailors term a _smooth_, we caught a

favourable opportunity, and in a very dexterous manner the boats were

rowed between the two seas, and made a favourable landing at the western

creek.

At the latter end of last season, as was formerly noticed, the beacon

was painted white, and from the bleaching of the weather and the sprays

of the sea the upper parts were kept clean; but within the range of the

tide the principal beams were observed to be thickly coated with a green

stuff, the _conferva_ of botanists. Notwithstanding the intrusion of

these works, which had formerly banished the numerous seals that played

about the rock, they were now seen in great numbers, having been in an

almost undisturbed state for six months. It had now also, for the first

time, got some inhabitants of the feathered tribe: in particular the

scarth or cormorant, and the large herring-gull, had made the beacon a

resting-place, from its vicinity to their fishing-grounds. About a dozen

of these birds had rested upon the cross-beams, which, in some places,

were coated with their dung; and their flight, as the boats approached,

was a very unlooked-for indication of life and habitation on the Bell

Rock, conveying the momentary idea of the conversion of this fatal rock,

from being a terror to the mariner, into a residence of man and a

safeguard to shipping.

Upon narrowly examining the great iron stanchions with which the beams

were fixed to the rock, the writer had the satisfaction of finding that

there was not the least appearance of working or shifting at any of the

joints or places of connection; and, excepting the loosening of the

bracing-chains, everything was found in the same entire state in which

it had been left in the month of October. This, in the estimation of the

writer, was a matter of no small importance to the future success of the

work. He from that moment saw the practicability and propriety of

fitting up the beacon, not only as a place of refuge in case of accident

to the boats in landing, but as a residence for the artificers during

the working months.

While upon the top of the beacon the writer was reminded by the

landing-master that the sea was running high, and that it would be

necessary to set off while the rock afforded anything like shelter to

the boats, which by this time had been made fast by a long line to the

beacon, and rode with much agitation, each requiring two men with

boat-hooks to keep them from striking each other, or from ranging up

against the beacon. But even under these circumstances the greatest

confidence was felt by every one, from the security afforded by this

temporary erection. For, supposing the wind had suddenly increased to a

gale, and that it had been found unadvisable to go into the boats; or,

supposing they had drifted or sprung a leak from striking upon the

rocks; in any of these possible and not at all improbable cases, those

who might thus have been left upon the rock had now something to lay

hold of, and, though occupying this dreary habitation of the sea-gull

and the cormorant, affording only bread and water, yet _life_ would be

preserved, and the mind would still be supported by the hope of being

ultimately relieved.

Wednesday, 25th May.

On the 25th of May the writer embarked at Arbroath, on board of the _Sir

Joseph Banks_, for the Bell Rock, accompanied by Mr. Logan senior,

foreman builder, with twelve masons, and two smiths, together with

thirteen seamen, including the master, mate, and steward.

Thursday, 26th May.

Mr. James Wilson, now commander of the _Pharos_, floating light, and

landing-master, in the room of Mr. Sinclair, who had left the service,

came into the writer's cabin this morning at six o'clock, and intimated

that there was a good appearance of landing on the rock. Everything

being arranged, both boats proceeded in company, and at eight a.m. they

reached the rock. The lighthouse colours were immediately hoisted upon

the flag-staff of the beacon, a compliment which was duly returned by

the tender and floating light, when three hearty cheers were given, and

a glass of rum was served out to all hands to drink success to the

operations of 1808.

Friday, 27th May.

This morning the wind was at east, blowing a fresh gale, the weather

being hazy, with a considerable breach of sea setting in upon the rock.

The morning bell was therefore rung, in some doubt as to the

practicability of making a landing. After allowing the rock to get fully

up, or to be sufficiently left by the tide, that the boats might have

some shelter from the range of the sea, they proceeded at eight a.m.,

and upon the whole made a pretty good landing; and after two hours and

three-quarters' work returned to the ship in safety.

In the afternoon the wind considerably increased, and, as a pretty heavy

sea was still running, the tender rode very hard, when Mr. Taylor, the

commander, found it necessary to take in the bowsprit, and strike the

fore and main topmasts, that she might ride more easily. After

consulting about the state of the weather, it was resolved to leave the

artificers on board this evening, and carry only the smiths to the rock,

as the sharpening of the irons was rather behind, from their being so

much broken and blunted by the hard and tough nature of the rock, which

became much more compact and hard as the depth of excavation was

increased. Besides avoiding the risk of encumbering the boats with a

number of men who had not yet got the full command of the oar in a

breach of sea, the writer had another motive for leaving them behind. He

wanted to examine the site of the building without interruption, and to

take the comparative levels of the different inequalities of its area;

and as it would have been painful to have seen men standing idle upon

the Bell Rock, where all moved with activity, it was judged better to

leave them on board. The boats landed at half-past seven p.m., and the

landing-master, with the seamen, was employed during this tide in

cutting the seaweeds from the several paths leading to the

landing-places, to render walking more safe, for, from the slippery

state of the surface of the rock, many severe tumbles had taken place.

In the meantime the writer took the necessary levels, and having

carefully examined the site of the building and considered all its

parts, it still appeared to be necessary to excavate to the average

depth of fourteen inches over the whole area of the foundation.

Saturday, 28th May.

The wind still continued from the eastward with a heavy swell; and

to-day it was accompanied with foggy weather and occasional showers of

rain. Notwithstanding this, such was the confidence which the erection

of the beacon had inspired that the boats landed the artificers on the

rock under very unpromising circumstances, at half-past eight, and they

continued at work till half-past eleven, being a period of three hours,

which was considered a great tide's work in the present low state of the

foundation. Three of the masons on board were so afflicted with

sea-sickness that they had not been able to take any food for almost

three days, and they were literally assisted into the boats this morning

by their companions. It was, however, not a little surprising to see how

speedily these men revived upon landing on the rock and eating a little

dulse. Two of them afterwards assisted the sailors in collecting the

chips of stone and carrying them out of the way of the pickmen; but the

third complained of a pain in his head, and was still unable to do

anything. Instead of returning to the tender with the boats, these three

men remained on the beacon all day, and had their victuals sent to them

along with the smiths'. From Mr. Dove, the foreman smith, they had much

sympathy, for he preferred remaining on the beacon at all hazards, to be

himself relieved from the malady of sea-sickness. The wind continuing

high, with a heavy sea, and the tide falling late, it was not judged

proper to land the artificers this evening, but in the twilight the

boats were sent to fetch the people on board who had been left on the

rock.

Sunday, 29th May.

The wind was from the S.W. to-day, and the signal-bell rung, as usual,

about an hour before the period for landing on the rock. The writer was

rather surprised, however, to hear the landing-master repeatedly call,

"All hands for the rock!" and, coming on deck, he was disappointed to

find the seamen only in the boats. Upon inquiry, it appeared that some

misunderstanding had taken place about the wages of the artificers for

Sundays. They had preferred wages for seven days statedly to the former

mode of allowing a day for each tide's work on Sunday, as they did not

like the appearance of working for double or even treble wages on

Sunday, and would rather have it understood that their work on that day

arose more from the urgency of the case than with a view to emolument.

This having been judged creditable to their religious feelings, and

readily adjusted to their wish, the boats proceeded to the rock, and the

work commenced at nine a.m.

Monday, 30th May.

Mr. Francis Watt commenced, with five joiners, to fit up a temporary

platform upon the beacon, about twenty-five feet above the highest part

of the rock. This platform was to be used as the site of the smith's

forge, after the beacon should be fitted up as a barrack; and here also

the mortar was to be mixed and prepared for the building, and it was

accordingly termed the Mortar Gallery.

The landing-master's crew completed the discharging from the _Smeaton_

of her cargo of the cast-iron rails and timber. It must not here be

omitted to notice that the _Smeaton_ took in ballast from the Bell Rock,

consisting of the shivers or chips of stone produced by the workmen in

preparing the site of the building, which were now accumulating in great

quantities on the rock. These the boats loaded, after discharging the

iron. The object in carrying off these chips, besides ballasting the

vessel, was to get them permanently out of the way, as they were apt to

shift about from place to place with every gale of wind; and it often

required a considerable time to clear the foundation a second time of

this rubbish. The circumstance of ballasting a ship at the Bell Rock

afforded great entertainment, especially to the sailors; and it was

perhaps with truth remarked that the _Smeaton_ was the first vessel that

had ever taken on board ballast at the Bell Rock. Mr. Pool, the

commander of this vessel, afterwards acquainted the writer that, when

the ballast was landed upon the quay at Leith, many persons carried away

specimens of it, as part of a cargo from the Bell Rock; when he added,

that such was the interest excited, from the number of specimens carried

away, that some of his friends suggested that he should have sent the

whole to the Cross of Edinburgh, where each piece might have sold for a

penny.

Tuesday, 31st May.