HAZARDOUS VOYAGE. 99 



Like bold fellows, they chose the latter chance 

 for their lives, and abandoning* one of their boats 

 on the island, the whole eight got into the other 

 one, with as much bear-meat as they could stow, 

 and rowed for dear life to the south ; four rowed 

 while the other four lay down in the bottom of the 

 boat, and being providentially blessed with fine 

 weather, they actually succeeded in reaching the 

 coast of Fimarken in about eight days 1 time, but 

 half dead with hunger, thirst, and fatigue, as may 

 be supposed. The two jolly fellows in the sloop 

 kept themselves gloriously drunk, and floated about 

 at the mercy of the winds and the ice for many 

 days ; but, instead of going to the bottom as they 

 deserved, they had the good luck to fall in with 

 one of the other sealers, which, observing the help- 

 less condition of the sloop, and imagining her to be 

 abandoned, sent a boat on board to take posses- 

 sion ; but, finding the two worthies asleep in close 

 proximity to their beloved cask, they. were cruel 

 and hard-hearted enough to throw the latter over- 

 board, and then lent them a mate and two men to 

 assist them to navigate the vessel to Hammerfest, 

 where we may form some idea of the kind of recep- 

 tion they met with from their justly exasperated 

 comrades and the owners of the vessel. 



* I saw this boat myself on the island, turned bottom tip. 

 with all her oars, lances, harpoons, etc., just as they had been 

 left five years before. 



