and Lapland.

When the morning dawned, they saw nothing round them, as far as the eye
could reach, but snow, which seemed to lie as thick upon the trees as
upon the ground; and the blasts returned so frequently, and with such
violence, that they found it impossible for them to set out: How long
this might last they knew not, and they had but too much reason to
apprehend that it would confine them in that desolate forest till they
perished with hunger and cold.

After having suffered the misery and terror of this situation till six
o'clock in the morning, they conceived some hope of deliverance by
discovering the place of the sun through the clouds, which were become
thinner, and began to break away. Their first care was to see whether
the poor wretches whom they had been obliged to leave among the bushes
were yet alive; three of the company were dispatched for that purpose,
and very soon afterwards returned with the melancholy news, that they
were dead.

Notwithstanding the flattering appearance of the sky, the snow still
continued to fall so thick that they could not venture out on their
journey to the ship; but about eight o'clock a small regular breeze
sprung up, which, with the prevailing influence of the sun, at length
cleared the air; and they soon after, with great joy, saw the snow fall
in large flakes from the trees, a certain sign of an approaching thaw:
They now examined more critically the state of their invalids; Briscoe
was still very ill, but said, that he thought himself able to walk; and
Mr Buchan was much better than either he or his friends had any reason
to expect. They were now, however, pressed by the calls of hunger, to
which, after long fasting, every consideration of future good or evil
immediately gives way. Before they set forward, therefore, it was
unanimously agreed that they should eat their vulture; the bird was
accordingly skinned, and, it being thought best to divide it before it
was fit to be eaten, it was cut into ten portions, and every man cooked
his own as he thought fit. After this repast, which furnished each of
them with about three mouthfuls, they prepared to set out; but it was
ten o'clock before the snow was sufficiently gone off, to render a march
practicable. After a walk of about three hours, they were very agreeably
surprised to find themselves upon the beach, and much nearer to the ship
than they had any reason to expect. Upon reviewing their track from the
vessel, the