OLD WHALING DAYS. 67 



French corvettes cruised in Davis's Straits at the old S.W. 

 lat. 62^ and 63 N. This place was a favourite resort of 

 the whalers at that time, but a most dangerous place with 

 the wind blowing on the pack. They captured two or three 

 vessels and burnt them, taking their crews prisoners. Cap- 

 tain Sadler, whom I have previously mentioned, saw one of 

 the Frenchmen at a distance, and a less experienced man 

 would have taken him for a whaler. Having watched the 

 strange vessel for a time, he remarked the whaling gear was 

 on the starboard side instead of the port side. Captain 

 Sadler at once headed his ship towards the pack, crowded 

 all sail, and ran into the ice. A high sea was running, but 

 he preferred the risk of losing his ship in the ice to being 

 taken prisoner by the French. The enemy dare not follow 

 him, and when he got a few miles inside the pack, he lay 

 comparatively safe until his pursuer disappeared. The risk 

 was very great, for many a noble ship has been lost with all 

 hands in the Greenland pack. 



