92 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. 



very superior hash. We have abundance of fresh po- 

 tatoes and turnips yet remaining ; in fact, the deck is 

 full of potato sacks, and he lives mostly upon vege- 

 tables. We got a whole sheep in Ounalaska, where, by 

 the way, we also got some fresh beef, and he (Dr. 

 Ambler) is not quite a skeleton yet. 



Collins is the same Collins, getting off puns all the 

 time, some of them good and some wretchedly poor. 

 For a while we steadily refused to see his puns, and 

 would all look at him as innocently and inquiringly as 

 babies when he got one off, asking him to explain it 

 two or three times over, until he finally exclaimed that 

 our intellects must be weakening in proportion as we 

 increased our distance from San Francisco. Now, how- 

 ever, we let him pun away, praise the good ones and 

 condemn the bad. 



For myself, I am doing all I can to make myself 

 trusted and respected, and I think I succeed. I try to- 

 be gentle but firm in correcting anything I see wrong, 

 and always calm and self-possessed. T feel my respon- 

 sibility and care, and I hope I appreciate the delicate 

 position I am placed in of leading and directing so many 

 people of ray own age. I hope God will aid me in what 

 I have undertaken, and bring me through it in safety 

 and with credit. 



August 18, Noon. — Our schooner has just arrived, 

 and we have her alongside, and shall soon commence 

 hoisting in her precious cargo. — coal and provisions. 

 During the past six days many longing and anxious 

 looks were directed toward the horizon for a sight 

 of her, and I had already experienced that " hope de- 

 ferred maketh the heart sick." Now that she is here 

 we are up to our eyes in work and excitement, for I 

 have appointed Wednesday morning, the 21st inst., as 



