THE Institution has awarded its Thanks inscribed on Vellum and a monetary reward to Mr. J. Curtis, a fisherman of Polperro, Cornwall, for his gallantry in rescuing a shipwrecked man by climbing down the cliffs to him. in circumstances of great danger.

The rescue took place on the night of * See The Lifeboat for May, 1925.

November 12th, when the Danish schooner I. M. Nielson, of Svendborg, ran on the rocks under the cliffs and went to pieces in a few minutes. Five of the crew were washed overboard, wearing life-belts, and were carried ashore, where they were rescued by the Coast Guard and fishermen. But one of the crew had jumped from the bows of the vessel on to the rocks just at the point where the cliS was highest. The only way to rescue him was by going down the cliff, and this Mr. Curtis did, with a life-line round him. The cliff at this point is in two jagged peaks.

He had to climb down one, then up the other, and then down it 40 feet to the rocks. It was pitch-dark, and Mr.

Curtis ran great risk of losing his own life. When he got to the bottom of the cliff he was still in considerable danger, for a heavy sea was breaking on the rocks, and he ran the risk of being struck by the masts of the wreck as she rolled towards the cliff. In spite of this, however, he reached the Danish sailor, and they were both safely hauled up..