In the Later Days 413 



was down to the right angle, and the carpenter's 

 gang were ready to go to work, the after-hatch 

 broke in under the pressure of the water, for nearly 

 half the deck was below the surface as she lay 

 on her side. In three minutes she was on the 

 bottom with only her mastheads out of water. 



"There," said Captain Hayes, "now we've 

 done it for keeps." It was so. Nothing they 

 could do would raise her. 



Hard as was the life of the whaler in the Arc- 

 tic, there was a pleasant side to the picture, now 

 and then. Even these castaways from the Oriole 

 made shift to enjoy themselves in spite of the 

 loss of the ' ship. The stores were on shore. 

 The natives had been hired to help with the work 

 on the ship. They had received some rum and 

 liberal supplies of bread and molasses, which 

 they liked almost as well as rum. They now 

 proved good providers of Arctic game, and the 

 crew went hunting for themselves, so that life 

 was by no means all hardship while they waited 

 for another ship to appear. The trader Victoria, 

 mentioned above, was the first vessel that came 

 to the rescue. When she had finished her trad- 



