LONG YEARS OF WAITING. 
227 
decrease of their rations, never abundant at any time; 
the approach of scurvy, vile servant to want of hope 
and biting hunger. We should doubt, if it were said 
that they gave way without a manful struggle; the 
men who come here are not prone to that. Other evi¬ 
dence is here to prove that men, when all hope of aid 
from without fails them, have still resources they are 
not slow to practise; a little crew was wrecked close 
by, and their ammunition having failed them they set 
about to construct harpoons of such scraps of bone as 
they picked up along the shore, and contrived traps 
made out of drift-wood, resolved to support themselves 
by such food as they were able to capture in this way 
until a vessel came their way; six long years' after, 
four out of five of the men went on board a sealing- 
ship that opportunely was passing by; nor did they go 
from their captivity empty-handed, they were enriched 
by their stock of accumulated skins collected during 
the time of their imprisonment. 
We saw the remains of traps along the shores of 
Widdie Bay—wooden cages constructed with bits of - 
drift-wood. The huts, also, we were careful not to in¬ 
jure, never knowing how soon they may be required for 
the reception of some fellow-seaman. We ourselves 
had some reason to be thankful for enjoying such 
shelter as they offered. Once we got well soaked in 
