306 The Story of the New England Whalers 



To it only six men were assigned. The other two 

 carried seven men each. It was agreed that the 

 daily allowance of each man should be one hard 

 biscuit and a half pint of water. It was while 

 thinking of the condition of himself and shipmates 

 as they thus began their passage toward the main- 

 land that Mr. Chase wrote : 



"The dark ocean and swelling waters were 

 nothing; the fears of being swallowed up by some 

 dreadful tempest, or dashed upon hidden rocks, 

 with all the other ordinary subjects of fearful 

 contemplation, seemed scarcely entitled to a 

 moment's thought; the dismal-looking wreck 

 and the horrid aspect and revenge of the whale 

 wholly engrossed my reflections until day again 

 made its appearance." 



On December 16 the allowance of food and 

 water was reduced one-half. To quench their 

 thirst the men then began going overboard to 

 soak in moisture, as they supposed, and in doing 

 this they discovered a number of barnacles on 

 the bottoms of the boats. These they cleaned off 

 and devoured. Four days later land was seen, 

 Ducie's Island. 



