el, wrung his hands with despair, while dismay was depicted on
the countenances of his crew. So sudden had been the nip, that except
the clothes on their backs and the bedding they carried under their
arms, nothing had been saved. As yet too, the danger of approaching the
wreck was too great to allow of the attempt being made, for the ice,
pressing closer and closer, continued to throw up vast slabs, beneath
which any one going near the spot might in an instant have been crushed.
Suddenly the tall masts fell with a crash, and the whole upper part of
the ship was cast in fragments on to the ice. For several minutes the
seamen stood aghast, till the floes having accomplished their work,
remained at rest. Andrew was the first to speak.

"Lads," he said, "I have seen this sort of thing occur before, and I and
all with me reached home in safety, so may we now if we exert ourselves;
may be the boats have escaped, and the provisions and stores may have
been thrown up on the ice. I for one am ready to go back to the wreck
and see what has been saved."

Several of the men agreed to accompany Andrew, and they made their way
among the masses of ice which strewed the surface. Their search was in
part satisfactory. Two of the boats had escaped injury, while their
chests and a large portion of the provisions and stores which had been
on the upper deck, were found scattered about. The officers, arousing
themselves, now followed the example which Andrew had set. While one
party were employed in collecting provisions, another cut the sails from
the yards, which had been thrown on the ice, and erected tents in which
they might shelter themselves from the piercing wind. Others chopped up
wood, and fires were lighted. Some time was thus occupied, and at
length an encampment was formed, with all the stores and provisions
which had been collected piled up around, and the weary seamen were able
to rest from their labours. A consultation was now held as to the means
to be taken for preserving their lives. The boats could only carry a
portion of their number, even should the ice again open and allow them
to escape. As far as could be seen, it had closed in on every side, and
probably they would have to drag them many long leagues before the open
water could be gained. The land, by the captain's calculation, was
upwards of fifty miles away, but the Danish settlements, where they
could obtain assistance, were much further off. At