306 
GREENLAND VOYAGE. 
at this time almost as dangerous and painful, im¬ 
mediate hazard of our lives excepted, as possible. 
Every moment threatened us with shipwreck ; 
while the raging of the storm,—the heavy bewil¬ 
dering fall of sleet and snow,—and the circum¬ 
stance of every man on board being wet to the 
skin, rendered the prospect of our having to take 
refuge on the ice most distressing. Our only 
hope of safety in such a calamity, was the sup¬ 
posed proximity of the Fame. Yet we well knew 
that she must also be in danger; and, perhaps, 
in a situation as bad as our own. We could look 
to no other refuge ; since we had reason to appre¬ 
hend, that the whole of the Greenland fleet, with 
the exception of a single ship, had left the coast, 
and proceeded either homeward, or at least to the 
skirts of the ice. Even in the event of the safety 
of the Fame, as she was not near us, nor had we 
any conception of her position, we could not have 
obtained protection from her before a change 
of weather; and, in the mean time, exposed to 
such a storm, without the possibility of erecting 
tents for our shelter, it was to be feared that 
many of our crew would have sunk under the in¬ 
clemency of the weather. Impressed with this 
apprehension, the people not being required to 
attend to any duty in the immoveable state of the 
ship, employed themselves in making preparation 
for the catastrophe that seemed to await us. 
