rpetual thunder of it echoed
strong in every part of the vessel below, and the whole fabric was
constantly shivering to the blows of the falls of water on her decks.

At first the Frenchman and I would sit in the greatest fear imaginable,
constantly expecting some mighty disaster, such as the rending of the
ice under our keel and our being swallowed up, or the coming together of
the slopes in such a manner as to crush the ship, or the fall upon her
of ice weighty enough to beat her flat; though perhaps this we least
feared, for unless the storm changed the whole face of the cliffs, there
was no ice in our neighbourhood to serve us in that way. But as the time
slipped by and nothing worse happened than one sharp movement only in
the vessel, following the heels of a great noise like a cannon
discharged just outside; though this movement scared us nearly out of
our senses, and held us in a manner dumbfounded for the rest of the day;
I say, the time passing and nothing more terrifying than what I have
related happening, we took heart and waited with some courage and
patience for the gale to break, never doubting that we should find a
wonderful change when we surveyed the scene from the heights.

We lived well, sparing ourselves in nothing that the vessel contained,
the abundance rendering stint idle; the Frenchman cooked, for he was a
better hand than I at that work, and provided several relishable
sea-pies, cakes, and broths. As for liquor, there was enough on board to
drown the pair of us twenty times over: wines of France, Spain,
Portugal, very choice fine brandy, rum in plenty, such variety indeed as
enabled us to brew a different kind of punch every day in the seven. But
we were much more careful with the coal, and spared it to the utmost by
burning the hammocks, bedding, and chests that lay in the forecastle;
that is to say, we burnt these things by degrees, the stock being
excessive, and by judiciously mixing them with coal and wood, they made
good warming fires, and as tinder lasted long too.

We occupied one morning in thoroughly overhauling the forecastle for
such articles of value as the sailors had dropped or forgotten in their
flight; but found much less than I had expected from the sight of the
money and other things on the deck. There was little in this way to be
found in the cabins: I mean in the captain's cabin which I used, and the
one next it that had been the mate's, for of course I did not search Mr.