118 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



carried from the quarter-deck to the waist ; two quadrants, two practi- 

 cal navigators, and the captain's and mate's trunks had been hurriedly 

 secured from below by the steward ; and the mate had saved the two 

 binnacle compasses. Then, as the ship fell over on her beam-ends, the 

 boat, into which these articles had been placed, was launched. Not 

 more than ten minutes had elapsed since the whale had first attacked 

 the ship, and now she lay full of water, her deck scarcely above the 

 surface of the waves, and her crew abroad on the ocean. As the cap- 

 tain and second mate came up in their boats, their amazement and horror 

 on seeing the condiiion of their late home cannot be described. By 

 order of Captain Pollard the masts were cut away and the decks were 

 scuttled, and about 600 pounds of bread, some 200 gallons of water, a 

 musket, a small canister of powder, two files, two rasps, two pounds of 

 boat nails, and some turtle were secured. Each boat was fitted with 

 two masts, and a flying-jib and two sprit-sails constructed for each out 

 of the lighter canvas of the ship. The boats were also strengthened 

 and built up about 6 inches above the gunwales as an additional meas- 

 ure for safety. These preparations occupied the larger portion of three 

 days. The ship was now rapidly breaking up, and the captain called a 

 council of the officers to determine what should be done. By an ob- 

 servation taken at noon on the 22d of November they found they were 

 in latitude 0"^ 13' north, longitude 120° west. The nearest laud was the 

 Marquesas Islands, next to them the Society Islands, but at this time 

 the Pacific was but little explored, and these islands were presumably 

 inhabited by savages than whom the very elements were more kind and 

 hospitable. The final conclusion then was to make for the coast of 

 Chili or Peru. The men were accordingly apportioned among the boats; 

 the mate's boat being the weakest, having been stove several times and 

 being old and patched, was assigned six, while the other two carried seven 

 each. The record of the passage is full of melancholy interest, but too 

 long for insertion here. It tells at length how, in spite of the utmost 

 care, a portion of their miserable pittance of bread was damaged by the 

 breaking of heavy seas into their boats ; how their boats were damaged 

 and leaking by the repeated blows of the water ; how in the night of 

 November the 28th Captain Pollard's boat was attacked by some kind 

 of a fish and nearly wrecked ; how thirst, consuming, raving thirst 

 began its terrible assault ; how on the 20th of December they landed on 

 Ducie's Island ;* how, unable to find subsistence there, they again set 

 sail, after leaving three of their number, by their own desire, on the 

 island, and commenced, on the 27th of December, to make the perilous 

 voyage toward the island of Juan Fernandez, distant 2,500 miles. The 

 sad recital tells us that on the 10th of January the second mate, 

 Matthew P. Joy, died and was buried at sea, if indeed the simple 

 launching of his body into the deep by his feeble, saddened companions 

 could be called a burial ; that on the night of the 12th of January the 

 * Latitude 24^ 40' south, longitude 124^ 40' west. 



