108 EEPORT OF COMMISSIONEE OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



sails, made quite comfortable habitations for the women and children. 

 The rest made themselves comfortable as best they could. 



" On tlie second day out," says Captain Preble, " the boats reached 

 Blossom Shoals, and there spied the refuge-vessels lying five miles out 

 from shore, and behind a tongue of ice that stretched like a great penin- 

 sula ten miles farther down the coast, and around the point of whicli 

 the weary crews were obliged to pull before they could get aboard. The 

 weather here was very bad, the wind blowing fresh from the southwest, 

 causing a sea that threatened the little craft with annihilation. Still 

 the hazardous journey had to be performed, and there was no time to 

 be lost in setting about it. * * * * All submitted to this new dan- 

 ger with becoming cheerfulness, and the little boats stiirted on their 

 almost hopeless voyage, even the women and children smothering their 

 apprehensions as best they could. On the voyage along the inside of 

 the icy point of the peninsula everything went moderately well ; but 

 on rounding it, they encountered the full force of a tremendous south- 

 west gale and a sea that would have made the stoutest ship tremble. 

 In this fearful sea the whale-boats were tossed about like pieces of cork. 

 They shipped quantities of water from every wave which struck them, 

 requiring the utmost diligence of all hands at bailing to keep them 

 afloat. Everybody's clothing was thoroughly saturated with the freez- 

 ing brine, while all the bread and flour in the boats was completely 

 spoiled. The strength of the gale was such that the ship Arctic, after 

 getting her portion of the refugees on board, parted her chain-cable and 

 lost her port anchor, but brought up again with her starboard anchor, 

 which held until the little fleet was ready to sail." 



By four o'clock in the afternoon of the second day all were distributed 

 among the seven vessels that formed the remnant of the fleet that sailed 

 for the Arctic Ocean the previous spring. Not a person was lost to add 

 to the grief already felt or to increase the gloom of their situation. To 

 the Europa was assigned 280 -, to the Arctic, 250; to the Progress, 221 ; 

 to the Lagoda, 195 ; to the Daniel Webster, 113 5 to the Midas, 100 ; and 

 to the Chance, 60: in all 1,219 souls in addition to their regular crews. 

 On the 24:th of October the larger portion of these vessels reached Hono- 

 lulu, and the remaining ones of the seven speedily followed.* 



* The names of the beleaguered fleet were : from New Bedford, barks Awashonks, 

 value, $58,000; Concordia, $75,000; Contest, $40,000 ; Elizabeth, $60,000; Emily Mor- 

 gan, $G0,000; Eugenia, $50,000 ; Fanny, $58,000 ; Gay Head, $40,000; George, $40,000 ; 

 Henry Taber, $52,000 ; John Wells, $40,000 ; Massachusetts, $46,000 ; Minerva, $50,000 ; 

 Navy, $48,000; Oliver Crocker, $48,000; Seneca, $70,000; William Rotch, $43,000; 

 ships George Howland, $43,000 ; Reindeer, $40,000 ; Roman, $60,000 ; Thomas Dickason, 

 $50,000. From New London, bark J. D. Thompson, value $45,000, and ship Monticello, 

 $45,000. From San Francisco, barks Carlotta, value $52,000 ; Florida, $51,000 ; and Vic- 

 toria, $30,000. From Edgartown, ships Champion, value $40,000, and Mary, $57,000. 

 And from Honolulu, Sandwich Islands, barks Paira Kohola, $20,000; Comet, $20,000; 

 and Victoria 2d and ship Julian, $40,000. The Honolulu vessels had generally x\.mer- 

 ican owners, having been jdaced under the Hawaiian flag to protect them from rebel 

 cruisers. 



CaiJt. William H. Kelley, who commanded the Gay Head, visited the locality the 



