EVERYTHING WASHED OTERBOARD. 633 



This happened at nine o'clock last night. We shipped 

 sea after sea, five and ten minutes after each other, carry- 

 ing away everything we had in our tent, skins and most 

 of our bedclothing, leaving us destitute, with only tha 

 few things we could get into the boat. There we stood 

 from nine in the evening until seven next morning, endur- 

 ing, I should say, what man never stood before. The few 

 things we saved and the children were placed in the boa.t. 

 The sea broke over us during that night and morning. 

 Every fifteen or twenty minutes a sea would come, lift th 

 boat and us with it, carry us along the ice, and lose its 

 strength near the edge and sometimes on it. Then it 

 would take us the next fifteen minutes to get back to a 

 safe place, ready for the next roller. So we stood that 

 long hour, not a word spoken, but the commands to " Hold 

 on, my hearties ; bear down on her ; put on all your 

 weight," and so we did, bearing down and holding on like 

 grim death. Cold, hungry, wet and little prospect ahead. 

 At seven o'clock there came close to us a small piece of 

 ice, which rode dry, and we determined to launch the boat 

 and reach it or perish. The cook went overboard, but 

 was saved. All well. Tired and sleepy. 



"April 21. Last night and yesterday all hands wet. 

 Nothing dry to put on to-day. There is little to dry, but 

 we have stripped off everything we can spare, and are 

 drying it. The men are divided into two watches, sleep- 

 ing in the boat and doing the best we can. Hunger dis- 

 turbs us most. Nice breeze from the northeast. The ice 

 around very pressing and thick. We cannot get the boat 

 through, and must remain for a change. The sun has 

 shown himself only sufficiently to get an observation; 

 latitude 53 57'." 



Truly, their state was terrible in the extreme, and 

 Herron's trust in Providence was apparently clouded, 

 though it soon regained its healthy tone. 



"April 22. Weather very bad. Last night commenced 



