LXXI. APPLEDORE No. 1.— Temporary Boat, 31 feet by 7J feet, 10 oars.

LXXII. APPLEDORE No. 2.— Jane Hannah MacDanald, 34 feet by 7J feet, 10 oars.

JLXXIJI. BRAUNTON.— Robert and Catherine, 34 feet by 8 feet, 10 oars.

has once for all described " the little white town of Bideford which slopes upwards from, its broad tide-river paved with yellow sands and many arched old bridge where salmon wait for autumn floods to the pleasant uplands 'on the west." Bideford is said to mean "By the Ford," the ford in question being that by which, the British. Trackway crossed the Torridge, within sight of the bridge which did away with the need for fording.

This bridge is the most characteristic feature of the town. As Edinburgh is Edinburgh by virtue of its castle, Home Some by virtue of its capitol, and Egypt Egypt by virtue of its pyramids, so is Bideford Bideford by virtue of its bridge, now five centuries old or more, though of late sadly modernized.

Bideford has its place in history. Formerly it was one of the chief ports of England, and furnished seven ships to fight the Armada, and it is to the sea-life and labour of Bideford, Dartmouth, Topsham, Plymouth and many other little western towns that England owes the foundation of her naval and commercial glory. It was the men of Devon, Drake, Hawking, Gilbert, Raleigh, Grenville, Oxenham and the like, to whom she owes her commerce, her colonies, her very existence. Leaving Bideford, and wending our way- to the summit of the hill in the direction of Northam, let us pause a moment to look round, first at the wide bay to the westward with its southern wall of purple cliffs; then at the dim island of Lundy far away at sea; then at the cliffs and downs of Braunton and Morte to the north; then at the vast plain below through which the silvery estuary winds onwards to the sea. Beneath, on the right, we see the Torridge, like a land-locked lake between the old park of Tapely and the charmed rock of the Hubbastone, where seven hundred years ago the Norse Rovers landed to lay siege to Kenwith Castle, a mile away on the left hand—here the men of Devon defeated Hubba the Dane, and even yet is the spot known by the name of the Bloody Corner, where the retreating Danes, cut off from their ships, made their last fruitless stand. A stone bearing an inscription relating to the fight has been recently set into the bank, close to the spot where tradition says that the old Norse Viking lies in his leaden, coffin.

The general character of the coast line of Bideford and Barnstaple Bay, which latter is situated at the entrance to the Bristol Channel, is cliff and rock. Besides a small harbour at Clovelly and the still smaller havens of Bucks Mills and Peppercombe —thelasttwoofwhichonlysheltera few small fishing boats—there is no refuge until Northam is reached. Here between the Northam and Braunton Burrows, those open ranges of turfen flat and sand hills, which had their origin in the silting up of the entrance, the Biver Torridge joins her sister Taw, and both flow together in one undivided stream towards the broad surges of the bar and the everlasting thunder of the long Atlantic swell. Owing to the great rise and fall of the tide—a 23-feet rise at ordinary tides and 29 feet at springs—the channel over the bar is open to large vessels bound to and from Appledore from half flood to half ebb, the two Lighthouses on the Braunton side of the estuary giving the line in or out, and the channel has of late years been further marked by a bell-buoy three miles out in the bay.

The entrance to the estuary is bounded on the Braunton side by sands called the North Tail, and on thie south by other sands called the South Tail, extending along the parish of Northam and partly in front of the well-known pebble ridge, which for about two miles protects the Burrows from the sea. These Burrows are made much use of by the inhabitants for golf, and are regarded by them as the best links in England. From this common the parish takes its name— North Ham. The noise of the surf upon the boulders of the pebble ridge is the sure precursor of wind. An Atlantic storm sends forward the token of his coming in the smooth ground swell which can be heard for miles inland, the pebbles rattling down with the retreating wave of the swell may on the morrow be leaping to the ridge top, hurled like round shot far ashore upon the beach by the force of the advancing wave, flying before the wrath of the northern storm.

If 0236 wishes to form a notion of what the losses of life by sea were on the coast of North Devon, prior to the year 1820, the burial registers of the nine parishes between Hartland and Baggy points—the two extreme points of Barnstaple Bay— must be searched. That bay was nothing leas than a death-trap to the mariner, and many are the sad -wrecks to which these registers bear witness. The nine parishes above alluded to are—Hartland, Clovelly, Woolfardisworthy, Parkham, Alwington, Abbotsham, Northam, Braunton and Georgeham, and it must be remembered that the registers of these parishes only record the bnrial of those of the castaways whose bodies were recovered. In the parish of Northam there are 83 burials of shipwrecked sailors recorded between 1749 and 1820, and in spite of the Life-boats at Appledore and Braunton, by which 200 lives and more have been saved, the shipping since 1820 has so vastly increased that DO less than 78 additional interments of shipwrecked sailors have taken place in Northam churchyard alone. To these must be added the entries in the burial register of Appledore, an ecclesiastical parish separated from Northam in 1838, and distant from it about two miles. Appledore, the ont port of Bideford, is a busy shipping town, situated at the junction of the rivers Taw and Torridge, and contains a population of between three and four thousand inhabitants. A large proportion are sailors and pilots, who furnish the crews for the Life-boats at! Appledore and Braunton. If such then be the record in one of the nine parishes only, what must the whole loss of life have been in the bay ? The Braunton Lighthoiises, erected by the Trinity House in 1820, were the first means adopted for diminishing the terrible list of wrecks.

Jt is probable that their erection was due to local representations as to the sad scenes on the coast. For instance, in the years 1819 and 1820 it was shown at the Appledore Custom House that in the case of four wrecks all lives were lost. Many of the wrecks take place on either the North or South Tail, vessels being either too early on the flood, and unable to keep off owing to the strength of the wind, or to previous injuries to their sails and rigging, or for want of a pilot. A strong and dangerous indraft is also experienced, and its influence is said to be felt six miles to seaward, so that in unsettled weather no vessel should approach the land within the limits of a line connecting the two points at Hartland and Baggy unless bound for Appledore, for the frequent and sudden changes of wind to the N. W., which succeed the S.W. gales, would ezpose any vessel to great risk of being driven ashore, it being impossible to claw off the land on the flood tide, or to obtain the slightest shelter while the wind blows from the "W.N.W. The danger attending these sudden shifts of wind may be illustrated by the lamentable loss of the Weasel sloop-of-war, commanded by the Hon. Henry Grey, on the night of the llth January, 1799. Being stationed on this part of the coast, she was riding at anchor about a mile west from the bar, the wind blowing a fresh gale from the southward. A Bideford vessel, commanded by a Captain Grossard, in the course of the day beat over the bar, and in passing, hailed the Weasel, telling her Commander that his position was dangerous, and begging him to cross the bar and to go into harbour. The answer given back was that the Weasel was riding quite safely.

During the night the gale suddenly veered, as it generally does, to the N.W., and in attempting to beat out of the bay the Weasel struck near Baggy Point, went to pieces almost immediately, and every person on board perished—120 officers and men, and 1 woman.

The whole of this part of the coast and its vicinity is much better guarded by Lighthouses than it was formerly. In addition to the Light on Lundy Island and those at Braunton, a Lighthouse has been placed at Hartland Point, and another at Bull Point near Morthoe. Much better protection is also provided by additional Life-boats having been placed at Clovelly, Braunton, Morte Bay and Ilfracombe.

Notwithstanding all these safeguards, however, peculiar perils beset vessels sheltering on the east side of Lundy Island during S.W. gales. Should the wind fly round to the N.E. the anchor- age ground is at once exposed to the gale, and the vessels are obliged to run for safety where they best can. On the 16th October, 1886, there was such a shift of wind during the night that, of about forty vessels at anchor there, for the most part large ones, full twenty went ashore or foundered in Barnstaple Bay. It is believed at least 300 men perished on this occasion. Two large vessels, one a steamer, foundered close to the Bell buoy off the bar, but no aid could be rendered as, being night time and no signals shown, their whereabouts was unknown on shore. It has been publicly stated that fully one-fourth of the shipping traffic of the United Kingdom passes up and down the Bristol Channel. The above facts demonstrate pretty clearly the great need existing for a harbour of refuge off the mouth of the Bristol Channel.

About the time the Lighthouses were built, namely in 1820, public attention and sympathy were strongly excited by the frequent wrecks and fearful loss of life that had taken place in the bay. The distance of the bar from the shore, and the exposed situation of the whole beach, being open to the Atlantic, preventing the possibility of assistance being rendered by ordinary boats, suggested the necessity of a Life-boat, and in August, 1824, an appeal was made to our Society, then called the NATIONAL SHIPWRECK INSTITUTION, and just established in London.

The request was at once acceded to, and a small boat ordered to be built by Plenty of Newbury, Berks. She reached her station the latter end of February, 1825. This Boat, called No. 1, or the Volunteer, was 17 feet long, 6 J feet wide, and 2£ feet deep; she weighed 20 cwt., and was pulled by four oars single banked. Like others built by Plenty, she was sheathed with cork on her bottom and thoroughly varnished.

Air-cases were built into her sides, but there were no freeing valves; the water she took in she rolled out, and would not right herself if capsized. Her character was slow but sure. This small Boat i proved her value, for she saved 80 lives.

A meeting of gentlemen from Barnstaple, Bideford, and Appledore was called in June, 1831, to consider a proposition to provide this Boat with a house, to remunerate those instrumental in saving life, and to keep the Boat in the utmost state of efficiency. At this meeting the j North Devon Humane Society was established, and Lord Rolle appointed the Patron. Immediately after the formation of the Society, an application was made for a larger Life-boat, and again the Institution in London acceded to the request. A Boat was ordered from a design by the late Mr. GEORGE PALMEB, M.P. for South Essex, Deputy Chairman of the Parent Institution, and at the close of 1831 was completed and sent to Bideford. She was clench built; was 26 feet long, 6 feet wide, and 3 feet deep; weighed 20 cwt., and pulled six oars single banked; had detached air-cases along the sides up to the thwarts, and at each end up to the gunwale, In consequence of a fatal wreck on the North Tail in December, 1845, the Boat was three years later transferred to the Braunton side of the estuary, and the present wooden Boat-house was built among the sandhills to receive her. Ibis Boat has also justified her existence by the excellent services she has rendered on several occasions. In 1846 further application was made to the Institution for a third Life-boat of larger dimensions than the other two, and the following year a Boat, built of mahogany and air-cases built into the sides, was ordered and sent to Appledore the same year, that station now having three Life-boats. Her dimensions were 30 feet long, 7 feet wide, and 3J feet deep. She was named the Petrel. In 1857 a carriage was built by Hansom and Sims for her; the wheels being provided with a self-laying tramway ; but this was found in practice to be too cumbersome and was discarded.

In 1855 the separate existence of the North Devon Humane Society ceased, it having become a branch of the Parent Institution in London, and a few years later the Boat stationed at Braunton became a separate station, under the management of a committee styled the Barnstaple and Braunton Branch. The Bev. I. H. Grosset, who was appointed Chairman of the North Devon Society as 'far back as 1850, is one of the oldest, if not the oldest, representatives of thai; Society, and he continued to serve as an active member of the Bideford and Appledore Committee until quite recently. It was owing to his energetic representations that the efficiency of the Life-boats at Appledore and Braunton were pnt on a better and a more effective footing, to meet any probable emergency that might arise.

The North Devon Society, during its twenty-four years of separate existence, did all that it was possible to do with the slender income at its disposal, which only amounted to £30 a year. Yet with these slender resources, increased by occasional donations from time to time, the Society erected two Boat-houses, built carriages, maintained their Boats, rewarded their men, and subscribed £120 towards a new Boat, and during that period of twenty-four years their Life-boats were instrumental in saving 107 lives.

The present Life-boats at Appledore and Braunton were sent to their stations —No. 1, Temporary Boat, 31 feet long and 7J feet beam, pulling 10 oars, to take the place of the Hope, which was stationed at Appledore in 1862. The latter boat was condemned as unfit for further service at the latter end of 1890, having saved 59 lives. A Boat is now building to replace her. No. 2, 34 feet by 74 feet, pulling 10 oars, in 1885. Up to the present she has saved 4 lives, and No. 3, that at Braunton, 34 feet by 8 feet, also pulling 10 oars, in 1885, credited with 34 lives. In 1889 the Bideford and Appledore Branch was reorganized. One of the two Boats stationed on the Northam Burrows was transferred to Badsteps, and accommodated with a new house and slipway, whence it launches directly into the river. The plot of ground on which the house stands was generously presented to the Institution by Mr. Chappie of Appledore..