THE ST. LAWRENCE ISLANDS. 161 



escaped the ravages of that furious wave. The 

 first thing I saw, was the broken bowsprit; and an 

 idea may be formed of the violence of the water, 

 which at once dashed in pieces a beam of two feet 

 in diameter. This loss was the more important, as 

 the two other masts could not long withstand the 

 tossing of the ship, and deliverance would then 

 be impossible. The gigantic wave broke the leg 

 of one of my sailors ; a subaltern officer was 

 thrown into the sea, but saved himself with much 

 presence of mind, by seizing the rope which hung 

 behind the ship j the steering wheel was broken, 

 the two sailors who held it were much hurt, and I 

 myself, thrown violently with my breast against a 

 corner, suffered severe pain, and was obliged to 

 keep my bed for several days. In this dreadful 

 storm I had an opportunity of admiring the un- 

 daunted courage of our sailors; no human assistance 

 however could have been of any avail : but for- 

 tunately for seamen, the hurricanes are never of 

 long duration. Kadu had been in great terror 

 during the storm ; for he expected, as he expressed 

 himself, that the immense white waves would kill 

 the poor ship ; otherwise he was quite secure in 

 the officers' cabin, in warm clothes, only his boots 

 were very troublesome to him. M. Chamisso 

 took great pains daily to learn from him more 

 information respecting Radack and the Carolinas, 

 which he found pretty easy, as Kadu soon under- 

 stood the Russian language, and we, on the other 



VOL. II. M 



