54 WRECK OF THE FURY. 



condition, with exception of a part of the latter which had been 

 lodged in provision-casks. The lime-juice and the pickles had 

 not suffered much ; and even the sails, which had been well 

 made up, were not only dry, but seemed as if they had never 

 been wetted. It was remarkable, however, that while the spun 

 yarn was bleached white, all appearance and smell of tar had 

 vanished from it. 



We proceeded now to the beach where the Fury had been 

 abandoned, but not a trace of her hull was to be seen. There 

 were many opinions ; but all were equally at liberty to conjecture 

 what had become of the wreck. Having often seen, however, 

 what the moving masses of ice could do on this coast, it was not 

 difficult to guess in general what we could not explain in detail. 

 She had been carried bodily off, or had been ground to atoms, 

 and floated away to add to the drift timber of these seas. At any 

 rate, she was not to be found ; we had seen no a])pearance of 

 her during the ten miles that we had coasted within pistol-shot 

 of the shore to the southward of this place, and we now examined 

 it for two miles to the northward vnth no better success. 



We therefore returned on board, and made preparations for 

 embarking a sufficiency of stores and provisions to complete our 

 equipment for two years and three months ; being what we ex- 

 pected to want on the one hand, and to obtain ofi the other. I 

 need not say that it was an occurrence not less novel than inter- 

 esting, to find in this abandoned region of solitude, and ice, and 

 rocks, a ready market where we could supply all our wants, and, 

 collected in one spot, all the materials for which we should have 

 searclied the warehouses of Wapping or Rotherhithe; all ready 

 to be shipped wlien we chose, and all free of cost; since it was 

 the certainly of this supply, and a well-grounded one it proved, 

 that had formed the foundation of the present expedition. 



A list of our wants was accordingly made out by Mr. Thorn, who 

 remained on board to receive the stores, together with the leading 

 mate and a few hands. On shore, the rest of the crew were 

 ready with the boats to receive and transport whatever was to be 

 taken ; and the steward, together with the surgeon, were employed 

 in selecting wliatever appeared to be of the best quality. Yet all 

 that we could possibly stow away seemed scarcely to diminish 

 the piles of canisters, of which we embarked whatever we could, 

 together with such flour, cocoa, and sugar, as we wanted ; all 

 that we took being in excellent condition. 



We continued our embarkations for two days, including ten 

 tons of coals ; and, after allowing the men some rest, we contrived 

 to get these, together with all the provisions and a part of the 

 stores, on board before dinner-time. >Ve had found the spare 

 mizen-topmast of the Fury ; and this was selected by the carpenter 

 for a new boom, in place of the one that we had lost. We also 

 got some anchors and hawsers, together with some boatsw^in*s 

 and carpenter's stores to make up our deficiencies. Some of the 



