A VOYAGE IN THE NORTH SEAS. 241 



fly, and after a succession of adventures, which it is unnecessary to 

 relate, found himself on board the Labrador, a Greenland whale ship, 

 in which he had engaged himself as surgeon. 



The captain of the Labrador, by name Bellamy, was a vain, 

 shallow, overbearing man, who possessed neither the bluff good 

 humour of a seaman, nor the courtesy of a well-bred landsman. He 

 piqued himself upon a certain prim peculiar manner, which he mis- 

 took for politeness, and which sat as ill upon his vulgar carcase as 

 would a silk cloak upon the back of a scavenger. It was impossible 

 for Frank to conceal the contempt and disgust which the general 

 conduct of the captain created. This, of course, the latter soon 

 perceived, but he was prevented by the respect which, in spite of 

 himself, he felt for Arundel, from inflicting on him any humiliating 

 insult. Perhaps there is nothing more calculated to stimulate hate 

 in a little mind than such constrained respect as Bellamy paid to 

 Arundel. He hated him the more bitterly, because he could not 

 despise him. The natural consequence of such feelings between 

 two persons, thrown continually in each other's way, was a quarrel, 

 in which the whole bitterness and ferocity of the captain's hate was 

 foiled by the superior address of Arundel, who, having gained the 

 confidence of the whole crew, was enabled to despise the attempts of 

 Bellamy to injure him. From this time, the darkest schemes of 

 treachery were cherished by the captain, who vowed in his heart 

 that Arundel should never return home aliveo Such was the state 

 of matters on board the Labrador, when, after some days of stormy 

 weather, having reached the latitude of 60 north, and longitude 10 

 west, they fell in with a small vessel in distress. The wind, fortu- 

 nately, lulled a little at the time the crew of the Labardor perceived 

 the wreck, permitting them to send out boats; in one of which 

 Arundel went, in order to give his assistance if required. The scene 

 which met his eyes, as he stepped on the deck of the shattered little 

 vessel, was such as to freeze his very blood with horror. On the 

 deck, in the after part of the vessel, with her hands lashed to a 

 heavy spar, and an immense profusion of light hair half veiling 

 her naked bosom, lay the inanimate form of a female about seven- 

 teen or eighteen years of age. A gaunt old mariner was stretched 

 near her, who seemed to have been arrested by death in completing 

 the dreadful purpose, which the position of the group sufficiently 

 indicated. One huge, dark, bony hand, from which, famine seemed 

 to have abstracted every particle of flesh, was fastened on her 

 shoulder the harsh outline and horny skin of his hand and arm, 

 contrasting strongly with the almost starry radiance of the limb 

 which it grasped; while the other hand clutched a large seaman's 

 knife, with a force which had caused the blood to spring from under 

 the nails. Near them were kneeling (or reclining) three or four 

 seamen, whose shrivelled, tortured features, livid lips, and dim eyes, 

 showed that they were in the last stage of famine. Whether from 

 joy at their unexpected deliverance, or horror at the deed which the 

 agonies of hunger had driven them to perform, they remained fixed 

 in the posture in which they were first discovered, showing no sign 

 of life, save the muttering of their blue lips, and the occasional slow 



M.M. No. 3. 21 



