Page:Royal Naval Biography Marshall v1p1.djvu/135

Rh  devolved on Commodore Hotham. On the night of the 10th Oct., there arose a hurricane at N.E. which increased by the morning to a degree of violence that is not to be described. The Vengeance, and some smaller vessels of war, were moored within the Careenage of St. Lucia, and prepared with every caution that could be taken to withstand the tempest, which had already driven several transports on shore. A little after twelve o’clock she parted one of her cables, and tailed upon the rocks. It now became absolutely requisite to cut away her masts, the loss of which, with the help of a number of guns that were got forward, considerably eased the force with which she struck; and by the wind fortunately shifting two or three points further to the eastward, her stern swung into deep water, and she was, beyond every expectation, saved; for it now blew, if possible, with redoubled violence, and nothing was to be seen or expected but ruin, desolation, and destruction in every part. The storm 