'Transactions of the Bombay Geographical Society, from January 1847 to May 1849. Edited by the Secretary. Volume VIII.' [‎41] (144/496)

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41
when the overwhelming force of the tempest and raging sea is too
likely to have caused the lamentable catastrophe so much dreaded.
Had she been in shore, it is probable that she would have been seen
or met by the other vessels, and that her escape would have been
effected with some damage—perhaps as the Victoria, Sea forth, Faize
Eubahny, fyc .; or had she been carried sufficiently westward to be out
of the path followed by the focus, she would, even if disabled, have
been drifted round by the northerly and westerly winds, and, like the
small country craft, have been brought towards the coast. It is a
bare possibility, that if she was farther along the coast towards
Ceylon than we suppose, she might have been well to the westward
and swept in among the Laccadives : if so, her fate may yet be dis
covered.
The size or sea-going qualities of vessels cannot always be consi
dered as a security for weathering a hurricane, H, M. S, the
Culloden 74, and Java Frigate, foundered off Mauritius, while the
Harrier Brig of War lived through the same storm. Yet in another
tempest, which happened near the same place, in the following year,
the Harrier went down, while the large ships of the fleet kept afloat
Nor will science, foresight, and every possible precaution, always stave
off misfortune. On board of a vessel tossed by angry winds, and
half buried in pyramidal heaps of mountain waves, the wreck of a
mast alongside may open a leak,—the rudder may be carried away, a
wheel rope snap,—or the steersmen be dashed from their post,—or
other accidents may happen, by which the finest craft may, in a few
minutes, be exposed to the most fatal disasters. These are points of
seamanship with which we have nothing to do : we aim at little more
than pointing out the danger, and recommending to all who can, to
eschew the perils, of a stormy vortex in time, rather than to risk a
collision in which nothing can be gained by a successful escape, while
much may be lost in the struggle,
A. Thom.