'IN eighteen hundred and fifty-nine, It was to me a solemn time: To a port in Cuba I did go; What happened there you shall know.
'As GOD would have it so to be, I was cook on board the open sea; I was at work, the crew did know, And from my lungs fresh blood did flow.
'Unto the captain I did go, He did for me all that he know; He called the mate and all the crew, And for the doctor they did go.
'In due time the doctor came To stop the blood and ease my pain; He said that I must go on shore, And stop a day, or two, or more.
'And the Spanish people there Did use me well, I do declare; Five days on shore I did remain, Then went on board the brig again.
'My captain was so kind and good, He done for me all that he could, He is a kind and generous man, Would always lend a helping hand.
'SCOTT COOKSON was our second mate, As to my friends I will relate; He was loved and honored too, By the captain, mate, and the crew.
'ROSCOE, and GEORGE, and FREDERICK, too, That was the names of all the crew; They were smart and noble boys, To reef topsails it was their joys.
'When our brig was ready for to sail, We was blest with a pleasant gale; As GOD would have it so to be, We came to Boston in America.
'When we arrived in Boston town, We got a bed for to lie down, For I was tired and very weak, I had been three days without sleep.
'The next morning, at seven o'clock, We made bargain with the truck, Across the city for to go, To the Eastern Main Depo.
'From Boston to Camden I came, My lungs were weak and racked with pain, To the doctor I went straightway, He gave me some relief without delay.'
Still more 'terrible' are the '_Verses on the Loss of the Lady Elgin Steamboat_,' 'composed by A. W. HARMON,' the 'gifted' author of the foregoing animated lines. Our extract must be brief: but we can assure our readers that the entire 'lot' is fully equal to the subjoined 'sample:'
'COME old and young, pray now attend To the sad tale that I've now penned, About the _Lady Elgins_ fate, And her disaster on the lake.
'Captain JOHN WILSON, with courage brave, Esteem'd by all on land or wave, Associated in many minds, _And memories of the choisest kinds_.
'At the moment the ships together came, Music and dancing were the game; But in one instant all was still, In thirty minutes the steamer filled!