The light, dry grass had been soon consumed, and the earth now wore a blackened appearance, and was as smooth as if vegetation had never covered the surface.  As the party rode briskly along, (and the pony now kept in advance,) the horses’ hoofs rattled as loudly on the baked ground as if it were a plank floor.  The reflection of the fire in the distance still threw a lurid glare over the extended heath.  As the smoke gradually ascended, objects could be discerned at a great distance, and occasionally a half-roasted deer or elk was seen plunging about, driven to madness by its tortures.  And frequently they found the dead bodies of smaller animals that could find no safety in flight.

THE CAPTAIN’S STORY.

At the close of the war with Great Britain, in the year 1815, I took command of the brig Ganges, owned by Ebenezer Sage, Esq., then a wealthy and respectable merchant at Middleton.  I sailed from New York on the 20th of August, bound for Turk’s Island for a cargo of salt, and, on the 5th of September, I arrived at my destined port.  It being the season for hurricanes in that region, it was thought most safe for us to go around into a small harbor on the south side of the island.  In order to reach this harbor, we had to go through a narrow, crooked channel, with rocks and dangerous reefs on every side, but, with a skillful pilot, we made our way through safely, and came to anchor.  On the next day we commenced taking in our cargo of salt.  On the 9th of September, a day that I shall ever remember, my pilot came to me somewhat agitated, and said that there were strong indications of an approaching hurricane, and advised me to make all possible preparations to encounter it.

We therefore quit taking in salt, and made every thing about the ship snug as possible.  At twelve o’clock, midnight, the gale commenced, as the pilot had anticipated, and continued to increase until six in the morning, at which time it became most terrific.  Every blast grew more and more violent until our cables all parted, and we were left to the mercy of the gale.  It blew directly from the land.  We got the ship before the wind, as the only course we could pursue.  In doing this we were well aware of the dangerous channel we had to pass, and my only hope was, that we might get to sea clear of the land.  But this hope soon vanished.  In about twenty minutes after we started, the ship struck a rock, which knocked off her rudder, and set her leaking badly.  The rudder being gone, we of course had no control of the vessel.  She came around side to the wind, and at this moment her mainmast was blown over the side.  We at once cut away the rigging that attached it to the hull, and it floated off, and the foremast still standing, the ship swung off again a little before the wind.  All hands were soon set to pumping, but we found that in spite of all our exertions, the water rapidly increased in the hold.