On the other side of the channel are the Shingles, a dangerous sandbank, on which many vessels have been lost.  A ledge of rocks below the water runs off from the Needles, known as the Needle Ledge.  When a strong south-westerly wind is blowing, and the tide is running out, there is here a very heavy sea.  Vessels have also been wrecked on the Needles; and Paul Truck told us how a pilot he once knew well saved the crew of a vessel which drove in during the night on one of those rocks, which they had managed to reach by means of the top-gallant yard.  Here they remained until the pilot brought a stout rope, which was hauled up by a thin line to the top of the rock, and by means of it they all descended in safety.  The pilot's name was John Long.