DISASTROUS SPRING FISHING. 25 



had been much damaged, and two or three 

 totally lost ; amongst others, the &quot; Empress of 

 India,&quot; a bran new iron screw whaler, from 

 Peterhead, which had cost 20,000., had gone 

 down bodily, the crew escaping with difficulty 

 into a Norwegian brig, belonging to the same 

 port and same owners as the &quot; Nordbye.&quot; 

 Ericson expressed his decided conviction that 

 iron vessels will &quot; never do &quot; for the northern 

 whale-fishery, as the excessive cold renders the 

 iron brittle, and concussions with the ice are 

 apt to start the rivets. 



The &quot; Nordbye &quot; herself had undergone a 

 terrible battering in that inclement season in 

 those stormy seas, and had only captured about 

 300 small Jan Mayen seals whereas 3000 

 would hardly have been remunerative. Poor 

 Ericson was further in great tribulation on 

 account of having broken all his telescopes ; 

 the mate, a fine young fellow of twenty-two, 

 only two days before, had tumbled out of the 

 &quot; crow s-nest &quot; at the maiii-top-gallant-mast- 

 head on to the deck, along with the last 

 telescope, and had broken it to pieces; upon 

 further inquiry I ascertained that he had 

 broken Ms own neck at the same time, and 

 was picked up dead. To do my friend Ericson 



