goods was brought ashore one night, and the smugglers propitiated the guard, (no difficult matter), by giving the men a keg of spirits . The soldiers, of course, plied themselves pretty freely, and when the guard came down from the barracks in the morning to relieve their comrades, they were found to be " drunk and incapable."
JACK'S SWIMMING ADVENTURE.
Every one in Hastings knows the " Pier Rocks," so named from the remains of the " Old Pier," which are seen at low water, or even at half-tide. This place was the locality of a curious smuggling transaction, accompanied with a swimming adventure. A lugger had been despatched to France for goods, and it was pre-arranged that she should arrive off the Pier Rocks on a certain night. On that day Sam, a sort of fore man in the matter, said to Jack, a fellow-workman, and one of the company who were to work the goods, "Jack ! do ye mind going off in a boat to-night ?" " No," says Jack. " Can you swim ?" is the question put by Sam. Jack answers in the affirmative, and it is arranged that they shall go at a certain hour. Sam, I have said, was a sort of foreman in the affair,--it must be understood that in the latter days of smuggling, the smugglers' organization required to be very perfect, in order to defeat the vigilance of the coast guardsmen. Sam and Jack go off at the time ap-
