wreck, covered
with ice. A dismal prospect to me, as at that time I knew not what had
become of the men. My own situation was even less enviable; the vessel
was frail, and deeply laden with salt: a cargo, which, if it by any
means gets wet, is worse than water, since it cannot be pumped out, and
becomes as heavy as lead; nothing could, in that event, have kept the
vessel afloat, and we had no boat in case of such an accident. I had
three men with me, besides the dead body in the cabin, and a pantry as
clear as an empty house--not an article of any description to eat. I
was four miles from the shore in a heavy gale of wind, the pleasure of
which was enhanced by snow and the bitterest cold I ever experienced.
We proceeded to examine the vessel, and found that there was on board a
quantity of sails and canvas that did not fit, but had been bought with
an intention of making up for this vessel, and not before she wanted
them; there was also an abundance of palms, needles, and twine: but to
eat there was nothing except salt, and to drink nothing but one cask of
fresh water. We kindled a fire in the cabin, and made ourselves as warm
as we could, taking a view on deck now and then to see if she drove or
if the gale abated. She pitched heavily, taking in whole seas over the
forecastle, and the water froze on the deck. The next morning we found
we had drifted a mile nearer to the shore, and the gale continued with
unabated violence. The other vessel lay a wreck, with her masts gone,
and as it were _in terrorem_, staring us in the face.

We felt the most pinching hunger; we had no fuel after the second day,
except what we pulled down from the bulkheads of the cabin. We amused
ourselves below, making a suit of sails for the vessel, and drinking hot
water to repel the cold. But this work could not have lasted long; the
weather became more intensely cold, and twice did we set the prize on
fire in our liberality with the stove to keep ourselves warm. The ice
formed on the surface of the water in our kettle, till it was dissolved
by the heat from the bottom. The second night passed like the first;
and we found, in the morning, that we had drifted within two miles of
the shore. We completed our little sails this day, and with great
difficulty contrived to bend them.

The men were now exhausted with cold and hunger, and proposed that we
should cut our cable and run on shore; but I begged them to wait till
the next morning,