In this instance man
availed himself of the instinct which ever prompts the brute creation to
self-preservation. The ship was freighted with live cattle; in a
dreadful storm she was dismasted, and became a mere wreck. The crew
being unable to manage her, it occurred to the captain, whose name was
Drummond, as a last resort, to attach some ropes to the horns of some of
the bullocks, and turn them into the sea. This was done, the bullocks
swam towards land and towed the ship to the shore. Thus the lives of the
crew were saved.
THE SINKING OF THE ROYAL GEORGE.
The Royal George was an old ship; she had seen much service. Her build
was rather short and high, but she sailed well, and carried the tallest
masts and squarest canvas of any of England's gun-ships. She had just
returned from Spithead, where there were twenty or thirty ships of war,
called a fleet, lying under command of Lord Howe. It was on the 29th of
August, 1782. She was lying off Portsmouth; her decks had been washed
the day before, and the carpenter discovered that the pipes which
admitted water to cleanse the ship was worn out, and must be replaced.
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