NINE MONTHS IN THE ARCTIC. 71 



view of our condition, danger, and prospects. 

 Had it been otherwise, and the same general fea- 

 tures of the wreck been transferred to the dark- 

 ness of night, we do not believe that one soul of 

 us would have been saved. 



The other favorable circumstance was, we were 

 not cast upon a rocky part of the coast, or against 

 some high and precipitous cliffs, which lift their 

 bold and defiant fronts against the surges of the 

 ocean far into deep water ; to strike against such 

 as we saw, would, at the first concussion, have 

 been the last of the ship and of all on board. 



In the good providence of God, however, we 

 drifted upon a part of the coast which presented, 

 for half of a mile or more, quite a plain, sandy 

 beach. „ We were, therefore, wrecked in the most 

 fortunate spot. On both sides of us, to the west 

 and south-east, cliffs began to rise, and broken 

 and abrupt ledges extended some distance into 

 the sea. Though five of our number found a 

 watery grave, yet the fact that so many of us 

 reached the shore was a matter of profound grati- 

 tude to that God who controls the elements, and 

 before whom the sparrow does not fall to the 

 ground without his notice. 



