a ton. And
how much d'ye think there's aboard? Not less than a hundred ton, if I
don't see double. There's no man can teach me the capacity of a cask,
and there are casks below varying from forty-two to two hundred and
seventy-five gallons, with no lack of whalebone stored dry somewhere,
I don't doubt, if those casks would let us look for it."

But this was no better than idle and ironical chatter in the mouths of
men so hideously situated as we were. For my part I had no thought of
saving the ship; indeed, I had scarce any hope of saving my own life.
We found an American ensign in a small flag-locker that was lashed
near the wheel, and we sent it half-mast high, with the stars
inverted. Then we searched for fresh water, and found three iron tanks
nearly full in the after-hold. The water stunk with keeping, as though
it had grown rank in the bilge, but after it had stood a little while
exposed to air it became sweet enough to use. There was no fear then
of our perishing from hunger and thirst whilst the whaler kept
together. Our main and imminent danger lay in the sudden dissolution
of the ice, or in the capsizal of the berg. It was our unhappy fortune
that, numerous as were the cranes overhanging the whaler's side, we
should not have found a boat left in one of them. Our only chance lay
in a raft; but both Sweers and I, as sailors, shrank from the thought
of such a means of escape. We might well guess that a raft would but
prolong our lives in the midst of so wide a sea, by a few days, and
perhaps by a few hours only, after subjecting us to every agony of
despair and of expectation, and torturing us with God alone would know
what privations.

We thoroughly overhauled the forecastle of the vessel, but found
nothing of interest. There were a few seamen's chests, some odds and
ends of wearing apparel, and here and there a blanket in a bunk; but
the crew in clearing out appeared to have carried off most of their
effects with them. Of course we could only conjecture what they had
done and how they had managed; but it was to be guessed that all the
boats being gone the sailors had taken advantage of a split in the ice
to get away from their hard and fast ship, employing all their boats
that they might carry with them a plentiful store of water and
provisions.

I should but weary you to dwell day by day upon the passage of time
that Sweers and I passed upon this ship that we had seen upon the ice.
We kept an eager look-ou