OLD WHALING DAYS. 105 



leave the question to those more conversant with medical 

 matters. On a previous voyage, Captain Buddington's crew 

 suffered severely from scurvy. He lost thirteen men out of 

 twenty-one. The remaining eight partook of raw seal flesh 

 and blood brought them by natives, and they soon recovered. 

 In this harbour we lay at anchor in forty-five fathoms, and 

 moored with two anchors and sixty fathoms of cable on each, 

 and rode with a heavy cable and swivel with which we were 

 provided. We had only room enough to swing clear of the 

 rocks. Not more than two ships could anchor here. At 

 the head of the cove the land was low, with a sandy beach \ 

 the side cliffs were very high and steep. In the interior was 

 a pond or lake, which the natives said abounded with 

 salmon. Above the low land a brilliant comet was seen to 

 perfection, probably in no other part of the world could it 

 be seen so bright. I believe this comet was visible over all the 

 northern hemisphere. We first saw it when off Home Bay, 

 and I watched it with great interest for four weeks, when the 

 nights were bright and clear. It was a most splendid sight. 

 The tail extended a very long distance. Other stars could 

 be seen distinctly through it, and the heavens and the low 

 part of the land were illuminated by it. 



Captain Buddington's small brig was brought up close to 

 the beach, near the encampment of Esquimaux. The other 

 side of the fiord was composed of numerous small islands 

 and sunken rocks, but where we lay the land was steep and 

 precipitous, and the captain gave us strict orders not to pull 

 with the oars when on the look-out for whales, but sail as 

 much as possible, as he thought that the perpendicular 

 rocks attracted the sound of the oars under water, and the 

 whales, being very quick of hearing, would not rise near us, 

 although it is very dangerous to get fast to one with the sail 

 set. 



On the morning of the ist October, as usual, seven boats 

 were sent away ; a fresh breeze was blowing, and we set our 



