1596. WILLIAM BARENTZ. l5l 



during " their cold, comfortlesse, darke and dread- 

 ful winter," is intensely and painfully interesting. 

 No murmuring escapes them in their most hope- 

 less and afflicted situation ; hut such a spirit of true 

 piety, and a tone of such mild and subdued resig- 

 nation to Divine providence, breathe through the 

 whole narrative, that it is impossible to peruse the 

 simple tale of their sufferings and contemplate 

 their forlorn situation, without the deepest emotion 

 for the unhappy fate of so many wretched beings, 

 cut off from all human aid, and almost from all 

 hope of their ever being able to leave their dark 

 and dismal abode. 



On the 4th of November the last feeble rays of 

 the sun took leave of them; and from that time the 

 cold was observed progressively to increase, till it 

 became so intense as to be nearly beyond endurance. 

 The wine and beer they had saved out of the ship 

 were presently frozen and lost all their strength ; 

 excepting a small portion of each that still re- 

 mained liquid, but which was not drinkable. By 

 means of large fires of wood, by placing heated 

 stones to their feet, and using double clothing and 

 fox-skin caps on their heads, they were just able 

 to keep themselves from being frozen; but it was 

 a dreadful task to go out in search of drift-wood, 

 and to haul it on a sled for a considerable distance 

 over ice and snow, and sometimes in such dark 

 and piercing weather as to take the skin off their 

 hands and faces. They once had recourse to the 



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