180 ^.«SS OF THE NOTTINGHAM GALLEY. 
eovering his illness, I ordered him to remain behind with two 
or three more whom the frost had seized. About noon the 
men acquainted me that he was dead ; we therefore laid him 
in a convenient place for the sea to carry him aAvay. None 
mentioned eating him, though several, with myself, afterward 
acknowledged that they had thoughts of it. 
After we had been in this situation two or three days, the 
frost being very severe, and the weather extremely cold, it 
seized most of our hands and feet to such a degree as to take 
away the sense of feeling and render them almost useless, 
so benumbing and discoloring them as gave us just reason to 
apprehend mortification. We pulled off our shoes, and cut 
off our boots; but in getting off our stockings, many, whose 
legs were blistered, pulled off skin and all, and some, the 
nails of their toes. We then wrapped up our legs and feet as 
warmly as we could in oakum and canvass. 
We now began to build our tent in a triangular form, each 
side being about eight feet, covered it with the old sails and 
canvass that came on shore, having just room for each to lie 
down on one side, so that none could turn, excepting all turn- 
ed, which was about every two hours, upon notice given. We 
also fixed a staff to the top of our tent, upon which, as often 
as the weather would permit, we hoisted a piece of cloth in 
the form of a flag, in order to discover ourselves to any vessel 
that might approach. 
We then commenced the building of our boat with planks 
and timber belonging to the wreck. Our only tools were the 
blade of a cutlas made into a saw with our knives, a hammer, 
and a caulking mallet. We found some nails in the clefts of 
the rocks, and obtained others from the sheathing. We laid 
three planks flat for the bottom, and tAvo upon each side, fixed 
to stanchions and let into the bottom timbers with two short 
pieces at each end, and one breadth of new Holland duck 
round the sides to keep out the spray of the sea. We caulk- 
ed all we could with oakum drawn from the old junk, and in 
other places filled up the distances with long pieces of can- 
vass, all of which we secured in the best manner possible. We 
found also some sheet-lead and pump-leather, which proved 
of use. We fixed a short mast and square sail, with seven 
paddles to row, and another longer to steer. But our carpen- 
ter, whose services were now most wanted, was, by reason of 
illness, scarcely capable of affording us either assistance or 
advice; and all the rest, excepting myself and two more, 
were so benumbed and feeble as to be unable to stir. The 
i 
