BRAVE MEN.

Maori Messenger : Te Karere Maori, Volume 1, Issue 22, 25 October 1849, Page 2

BRAVE MEN.

We all admire n brave man. We praise him; we sing songs about him; even after his death his name lives on. Our children will talk of our ancestors, as we talk of them now. We speak of their courage ; that tliey never tinned their bucks in the lights tli«y did not fi'iir to lead on their men to b ittle, though tney were very few in number, and their ene--111 ion very many. If they were cotujuered, we hear of litem still as brave men, that they shewed no signs of fear, even, when Jint to death. Such men .ovisiybody iidniitcs. But there ore braver men thnn tlie.se;' men that have been willing to sulfur pain, that others might nut sillier, who liavo been willing to die that others might not die. There have been many many such. This is co.irage indeed ; for it is hard to bear pain quietly, even when we cannot help it, but to hear pain, that we may save our friends from suHcring, this is true courage. Tliero was a man some years ago, an old sailor, who wns braver than the bravest chief in battle, ho was content to die to save lite lives of a great many other men ; his name was John Maynaid, he was an American ; ho was knowu by all the people about as a good man ; he loved God, and this strengthened his heart to love his brethren. He was a sailor on board a steamer which traded to and fro on a very large lake. In America there are several such lakes, much bigger than Taupo, Towns have been built along the shores, and the steamers carry passengers from one town to another.

It was a calm day, and the water smooth, when n steamer started Irom n town on the northwest side of the lake to go across to the southern side, where the people on board wished to land. There were a great number of people on board. Thuy sailed in the morning and expected to reach the town before sunset. Afternoon came on, the steamer went swiftly through the water ; evo.ybody

was talking anil laughing. I here was no thought of death being very near. Joliu Maynflrd was at tho wheel steering. Suddenly the captain cried out " What is that smoke coming out from the hold ?" A sailor ran helow to see, but lie came back, saying " The ship's on fire I" It was so—there were some bundles of flax in the hold—& spark hntl fallen, no one had seen it» and tho fire had been smouldering till many of tho packages and the sides of the vessel were on fire* Tho captain called every man on board to help ; the passengers and sailorß formed themselves into two lines, on each side of the hold. Buckets of water were passed from one to another along the lines, and dashed on to (he fire, and thenrefilled. The women crowded found .lo l - n,jWio was at the wheel, to ask him " how we be before we reach the shore ? Is there any boat ? Is the water very deep 1" John told them that there was no boat, it had been left behind to bo mended. " And now," said lie, " we are all in great danger, and I think that it there were less talking and more praying it would be better for us." Ho had just finished speaking when the flumes burst from the stern cabins. The captain sunt all the. women to the bows of the ship. The men fiung water over the sails; the American ling was hoisted and turned upside down, as a signal to the people on shore to aid them. Slill John stood atthe wheel steering the steamer towards the shore. The smoke and flame 3 cut him oft from nil the rest. They could not bear on him on'whom tho lives of all tho people depended. If he kept at bis work, steering straight to the shnre, all might be snvod. If he shrunk in pain and fear from the (lames which roareil close to hint, all must bo lost. " John," cried the captain, "can you keep , where you are five minutes longer?'' '• I will try,'* Answered John IVlaynard ; nnd lie did try. The boats were seen coming from the shore j all was bustle on board. Tho sailors sawed planks to lash the women to ; the men thiew off their clothes to swim to shore. All crowded to llie lore part of tho vessel to escape the scorching heat, all save John, lie crouched behind the wheel to avoid the smoke and fire. Some one saw him change hands and steer with his rislit when his 101 l was shrivelled and burn). Tlie bo-its came near. The captain <Tied " The women first, then the men ; may God save us all." All were sav.d, sjiiiein t'ie bouts, some on planks, some swam to uliore, only John was lost. Ho was never .uen agnin. No one knows hoiv he died. lb; illicit be choked with the smiike, perhaps he fell overboard, stupifi'!-! with .pain- IJut he .lied like a brave nun, and a good nyin, tint jlliers might live.

| We are loath to publish this nohlo instance of American heroism, so obligingly tiansmitted, without presenting at lenat a parallel example of British devotion, it occurred in the year 3827, and the hero was one Jami<s Maxwell, a native o{ Stirlingshire. James was pilq£ofa fine steamship called the Clydesdale willtraded between the Clyde and the West coa& of Ireland. On one of her voyages, wilh between seventy and eighty passengers, she caught fire, at the dismal hour of midnight. Invoking the blessing of the Almighty, and imploring his protection for his wife and clul. dren, Maxwell calmly took his post at the wheel, l'he vessel was put about, and her course directed towards the nearest, but ironhound, coast. No exertions could keep the fire under—the flames burst forth with ungovernable fury, and the excessive heat drove (he engine wilh increased velocity- The flames were impelled to the stern of the ship where the pilot remained like a martyr at the stake. The fire seized upon the cabin beneath his feet he was scorched by the glowing decks—bin

lie never quailed nor shrank from liis fearful post. The glaring vessel as she flow through the darkness of tlui night had excited alarm to tho people on shore, who, guessing the cause, clustered towards n cleft in the rocks into which tliey directed the heroic pilot by waving? of torches. He understood the anxious signal—c,iriii.'d the flaming ship, with cqu il skill and constancy, close to a ledgoof rock, ivhere every human being was safely debarked. As for poor Maxwell, his feet were half-roasted. He never completely recovered ihu effects of that dreadful burning—the agonies of that night had effected the work of years. His constitution was shattered, his young face became prematurely old, his dark iinir grey, and although a subscription was raised to compensate, in some degree, his sufferings, and to mark the public opinion of his magnanimous conduct, it could not restore that health which was for ever ruined. After a time ho resumed his profession, but, in consequence of the weakness of his scorched feet, he fell, fractured his ribs and otherwise severely injured himself, A second subscription was raised but lie did not livu to profit by it, dying, sometime in 1840, an esteemed und valuable servant, and leaving an example of In-roic virtue to all "ho are capable of appreciating the true worth of a brave man-]