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extract OF a JOURNAL [Arp. N°. VI. 
ful search for the five absent men, though with very small 
hopes of ever seeing them again. But, after standing four 
hours to the westward, to our great joy, we got sight of 
them with the glass from the mast-head, upon a small piece 
of ice, and at a. m., sent a boat and took all of them on 
board alive; and, considering the severities they had en¬ 
dured, from cold, wet, and hunger, in better health than 
could possibly have been expected. The same hardships 
must have killed any one not accustomed to these regions. 
It was indeed a deliverance of the most extraordinary de¬ 
scription. The account they gave of their perilous adven¬ 
tures, was to the following effect: 
Shortly after the departure of the boat which had at¬ 
tempted their rescue, a portion of the fioe upon which they 
stood broke off by the action of the swell, and before they 
could step across to the main sheet, the water intervened 
and prevented their retreat. They soon drifted from be¬ 
neath the shelter of the floe into a heavy sea. Almost 
cverj' other wave now washed over the piece of ice, so that 
to secure themselves, they were obliged to lie down flat on 
their bellies, and cling to the edge of the ice with their 
hands. In this state of dreadful suffering and danger, 
they remained until about midnight, when the mass of ice 
to which they clung was dashed by the waves against ano¬ 
ther lump, and broke into three pieces. They were fortu¬ 
nately on the largest part (which, however, was only a 
few yards in diameter), and on this they spent a dis¬ 
mal and hopeless night, frequently washed over by the sea, 
and in perpetual expectation that the next heavy wave 
would force them from their imperfect hold, and bury them 
in the deep. As soon as the sea began to fall, they con¬ 
trived to stand upright, and to move about, so as to gain a 
little warmth. But this measure was likely to fail, when, on 
