Page:Loss of the Comet steam-boat on her passage from Inverness to Glasgow, on Friday the 21st October, 1825.pdf/5

 hour when it would be invisible, urged the captain so pertinaciously to touch at Rothesay, that at length he complied. Three other persons besides Mr Glover landed at Rothesay; Mr M‘Alister and other two gentlemen spoke of doing so likewise; but unfortunately changed their minds, and remained on board.

From Rothesay the Comet proceeded directly on her voyage up the Clyde. The wind blew freshly, and there was some sea. In the course of the evening, which was exceedingly cold, a party of the passengers amused, and at the same time endeavoured to keep themselves warm, by dancing on deck. On the approach of morning their mirth abated, and the majority went below. In the early part of the night there was moonlight; but, at twenty minutes before one o’clock, the moon set; and the darkness gradually increased, though it never became so intense as to prevent those on board from descrying the hills on both sides of the river. About two o’clock the Comet was off Kempoch Point, a headland on the south side of the river, between the Cloch Lighthouse and the village of Gourock, and close to which vessels bound for Greenock usually steer. The important precaution of displaying a light had been neglected; and a jib-sail was set, which, in