50 THE WHALEMAN ; OR, 



In the present disabled and crippled condition 

 of the ship, we felt it was exceedingly perilous 

 and unsafe to remain even a single day in the 

 Arctic. We therefore left the whale ground, and 

 though our progress was slow, yet we put upon 

 the ship all the sail she would bear, since on ac- 

 count of the leak she was very much heeled, and 

 we were obliged to sail her in that condition. 



Nor was it safe for our ship to be left alone to 

 beat her way back two hundred miles or more, 

 unaccompanied by another vessel, lest by some 

 unforeseen circumstance, — an event not alto- 

 gether improbable, — the ship might founder at 

 sea, and all on board perish. 



Captain Jenks, of the ship Almira, therefore, 

 kindly proffered his services, with whatever aid he 

 could give, and accompanied our ship nearly to 

 the point of her destination, to the Bay of St. 

 Lawrence, which was about two hundred miles 

 distant from the place where the accident oc- 

 curred. 



When off East Cape, we obtained some plank 

 from the ship Citizen, Captain Bailey, of Nan- 

 tucket. We passed the heads of the bay, and, 

 with shortened sail, we worked our way up more 

 than thirty miles beyond the direction of any 

 chart, our boats being sent ahead, and sounding 

 the depth of water. We finally reached a point, 



