CONDUCT OF THE CREW. 123 



and silvery atmosphere presents itself, bounded 

 by a dark hard line of stormy clouds, such as 

 at this moment lowered over our masts, as if 

 to mark the confines within which the efforts 

 of man would be of no avail, the reader may 

 imagine the sensation of awe which must ac- 

 company that of grandeur in the mind of the 

 beholder. 



At this instant, when we were about to put 

 the strength of our little vessel in competition 

 with that of the great icy continent, and when 

 it seemed almost presumption to reckon on the 

 possibility of her surviving the unequal conflict, 

 it was gratifying in the extreme to observe in 

 all our crew the greatest calmness and resolution. 

 If ever the fortitude of seamen was fairly tried, it 

 was assuredly not less so on this occasion ; and I 

 will not conceal the pride I felt in witnessing 

 the bold and decisive tone in which the orders 

 were issued by the commander of our little ves- 

 sel, and the promptitude and steadiness with 

 which they were executed by the crew. 



We were now so near the scene of danger as 

 to render necessary the immediate execution of 

 our plan, and in an instant the labouring vessel 

 flew before the gale. Each person instinctively 

 secured his own hold, and with his eyes fixed 

 upon the masts, awaited in breathless anxiety the 



