58 
A VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN. 
with double planking, to offer the strongest resistance 
that could be devised to protect her from the grinding 
pressure of the ice,—and an inspection of her interior 
confirmed our readily-formed opinion : her ribs and 
strengthening pieces were extra strong. We soon 
gathered from her general aspect, that she was built for 
strength combined with speed. 
In her former most prosperous voyage she was. 
manned, on some mistaken theory, with a crew of 
Norwegian whale-fishers, but the superstitious fears 
of these curious people overcame every attempt to- 
prosecute a voyage so well begun, and our friend was 
most reluctantly compelled to relinquish an oppor¬ 
tunity of sailing into the sea whose very existence is 
denied by some, although the season was of rare suit¬ 
ability for such an exploit. 
Quite a crowd of people composed of the friends of 
the hardy sailors who are to accompany us, and of 
others, nautically inclined, who seem to take a lively 
interest in a journey they do not hesitate to speculate 
on freely, all day long stand loitering about the 
schooner. They seemed never to grow weary in 
watching our operations, and we marvelled that so- 
many hands could be spared in so busy a place, where 
there should be occupation for everybody ; but a 
kind of fascination held them to the spot, and when 
