IN former numbers of this Journal we have had occasion to point out that the use of the means at hand, in case of shipwreck, although of the rudest and simplest form, may by a little ingenuity and presence of mind, often prove of service in saving life when no other resources are available, and that the blessing of Providence will rarely fail to crown the efforts prompted by a bold heart to save the life of a fellow-creature.

A striking instance of the success attend- ant upon the courageous use of the frailest of all frail boats, the " curragh," on the north-west coast of Ireland, is recorded in the visitors' book at the excellent Gweedore Inn, county of Donegal, built a few years since by Lord GEORGE HILL for the accom- modation of tourists (one among the many benefits conferred by the noble and benevo- lent proprietor on that part of the country), and we are indebted for the extract to Lieut. G. STUART PEHFOLD, R.N., now Inspecting Officer of Coast Guard in the Cam district, who has been long resident in that part of Ireland, and an. eye-witness on many occasions of the warm-hearted gene- rosity and patience under severe privation exhibited by the poor peasantry and fisher- men in that neighbourhood.

A remarkable physical feature of the north- west of Ireland is the abundance of islets which skirt the shores of that iron-bound coast. The easternmost of a group lying between Arranmore, in Donegal, and the promontory known as the Bloody Foreland (which rises more than a thousand feet above the sea), is the small islet of Innis-irrir, or East Isle, about 1£ miles long, inhabited by a few fishermen, and this spot was the scene of the following case of shipwreck :— In February, 1 823, the schooner Osprey, of Glasgow, ROBERTSON master, with a crew . of four men, in the middle of the night, and during a heavy gale of wind from the north- west, was dashed against the rocks of Innis- irrir, broke to pieces, and soon sunk. One man was lost; the other three, who had taken refuge in the main rigging, were, on the falling of the mast, jerked on to the top of a high and precipitous rock within a stone's throw of the island, in which situation they were discovered at dawn of day on the fol- lowing morning. Attempts were made to throw to them coals of fire and potatoes, but in vain; their fate seemed sealed, for to try to rescue them through such a terrible sea as was breaking between the rock and the island was a forlorn hope indeed, and ap- peared almost impracticable. What was to be done ? If the unfortunate men were left to spend another night, exposed on the rock at this inclement season of the year, it would, doubtless, be their last on earth. To the honour of human nature be it told, that six of the poor islanders manned their curraghs (a small wicker-boat covered with hide), two in each, and watching a favourable interval between the waves, gallantly shot across the foam in their little cots, and gained a nook in the rock.

Here a new difficulty opposed itself; high above, some 20 feet over their heads, pros- trate on the rock, benumbed with cold, wet, bruised, and nearly paralyzed from the effects of the sufferings of the preceding night, lay the poor objects of their solicitude. The rock being nearly precipitous, there was no other way of reaching the curraghs but by dropping into them, at the imminent risk of either upsetting or staving a hole in them, and, to add to the risk, one of the three persons, the master, was a man of upwards of 14 stone weight.

The generous fishermen paused but for a moment; they saw the danger, but the hope to save the lives of three fellow-creatures would not allow the warm hearts of Irish- men to hesitate. Watching the heavy swell of the sea, they called upon the poor ship- wrecked men to drop from the rock; the frail curraghs withstood the shock without accident, each received its burden, and again waiting a favourable lull, they succeeded in landing each his charge in safety on the island.

The names of these six men are PATRICK COYLE and DOMINIC COLL, of Curragh; HUGH COYLE and PATIUCK M'CAFFEUTY, of Carrick; JOHN COYLE and DANIEL SWEENY, of Innis-meau; and they well deserve a record in a Journal devoted to the welfare of the mariner and the fisherman, as an example to others around our coasts not to be daunted by the want of a life-boat, but to turn to best account the resources within their reach, in firm reliance that a blessing always accom- panies efforts made in the cause of humanity.