406 The Story of the New England Whalers 



at times we couldn't see the next boat, though 

 no further away than a ship's length. 



"So we kept going, flinching when the squalls 

 struck us, but thinking all the time about how 

 much worse it was for them that had their women 

 and children along. Of course we had food 

 enough, boiled beef and pork and bread that 

 we'd made' ready before we left the ships, but 

 we hadn't any coffee and we hadn't any way to 

 make any. Along about four in the afternoon 

 we saw on the beach a considerable lot of drift- 

 wood and with that we couldn't stand it any 

 longer without the coffee. We pulled ashore 

 and the rest followed." 



Huge fires were built and the boats were drawn 

 up and turned on edge to make shelters. With 

 a number of sand-dunes found there to help 

 break off the wind, the company became almost 

 comfortable. Supper, with plenty of hot coffee, 

 was prepared, and when that was eaten, every- 

 body went to sleep in spite of the sleet-laden 

 gale and the outlook for the morrow. Next 

 morning, after a hastily eaten breakfast, all went 

 afloat and toiled on. 



