vessel began to sink. About sixty men jumped into the launch, but they
had only just time to clear the poop, when the gallant ship went down
with four hundred men.

And first one universal shriek there rush'd,
Louder than the loud ocean, like a crash
Of echoing thunder, and then all was hush'd,
Save the wild wind and the remorseless dash
Of billows: but at intervals there gushed,
Accompanied with a convulsive splash,
A solitary shriek, the bubbling cry
Of some strong swimmer in his agony.
LORD BYRON.

'The horror of the scene,' writes Admiral Totty, 'and the screams of
the unhappy sufferers, at the moment the ship went down, exceed all
power of description. Numbers who were struggling with the waves
attempted to lay hold of the launch, but the boat was already
overladen, and, for the safety of those who were in her, the drowning
wretches were beaten off, and, soon exhausted, they perished in the
waves.'

Captain Rennie remained in his ship till she sank. He then attempted
to swim to the launch, and by great exertion got within reach of her
oars, when, too much exhausted to make any further effort, he was seen
to raise his hands as if in supplication to Heaven, then putting them
before his face, sank into his watery grave. All the other
commissioned officers, with the exception of Lieutenants Robert Tucker
and Charles Quart, perished.