290 SIBERIA IN EUROPE. chap. xxii. 



were now set, and we steered N.E. by N. with a gentle 

 breeze. All the following day and night we tacked from 

 one bank of shoal water to another, with a head wind against 

 us. The lead was kept constantly going, and as soon as the 

 water under the keel was less than a foot, orders were im- 

 mediately given to " 'bout ship." By good luck or good 

 management, we succeeded in getting out of the lagoon 

 of the Petchora without running aground again, though 

 Captain Taylor vowed that nothing should ever induce him 

 a second time to risk a ship in such a dangerous and difficult 

 river. We had scarcely cleared the banks more than half 

 an hour before the wind dropped entirely ; the sails flapped 

 idly on the masts, and we sent the crew to bed. We were 

 lounging on the after part of the ship, telling our adventures 

 to the captain, when three curious clouds, like beehives, 

 appeared to rise on the horizon. We were leaning over the 

 bulwarks watching these unusual shapes in the sky, wdien 

 our attention was caught by the sound of a distant rum- 

 bling. The sea was as smooth as glass, and we were debating 

 whether the noise w T as not that of the Arctic ice, when the 

 captain descried a distant ripple on the sea, and started up 

 as if he had been shot. Hastily asking me to take the 

 rudder, he ran to the hatchway and cried out, at the top of 

 his voice, " All hands on deck ! " Every possible exertion 

 was made to haul down the canvas ; but before this could be 

 accomplished the gale came upon us, and the ship reeled as 

 the squall struck her, first on the starboard and then on the 

 port side. By the time the canvas had been taken in, the 

 squall had become violent, the sea rose, peals of thunder 



