118 
IN FORBIDDEN SEAS 
paddling round picking them up as fast as he shot 
them, the two rival cooks got from words to blows, 
and before they were aware of it they had upset the 
pot of boiling oil, and, good God ! in one moment 
the whole place was one mass of fire. Tongues of 
fire seemed to be shooting up everywhere, and lick¬ 
ing rafters and beams; fiery serpents springing up 
suddenly amid lurid flames, and breathing fire; 
heavy explosions scattering bottles and tins. Our 
very clothes on us were on fire ; it seemed as if we 
had been thrown into the jaws of hell without a 
moment’s preparation or warning. The shock was 
so unexpected that we were completely unnerved, 
but it was only for a second. Collecting our scat¬ 
tered senses, we made a rush and a plunge through 
the frail sides of the burning cabin, grabbing the 
first things we got hold of in our hurried exit, and 
escaped out of the pandemonium. We made but a 
sorry sight as we gathered around the ruins of our 
so lately happy home. Curses both loud and deep 
were heaped upon the two contestants for culinary 
honours, who now with bowed heads submitted to 
all the execrations which were bestowed upon them. 
“ Some of the party even proposed to make this 
their funeral pyre. Several of us were half naked, and 
all insufficiently clothed. We stood there, not be¬ 
moaning our fate, for, strange to say, dismal jokes 
were bandied about, and queer comments made on 
our forlorn condition. With the energy of men accus¬ 
tomed to meet any emergency, after having rescued 
everything we could, we began to construct a shelter 
for the night. By heaping up snow and pieces of 
driftwood under the lee of a neighbouring cliff, and 
close to the still burning fire, we obtained a roof 
