>769- journey, through pathlefs woods, in which it was too pro-
'----_i bable they might be bewildered till they were overtaken by
Monday 16, Wl next njgilt; and, not having prepared for a journey of
more than eight or ten hours, they were wholly deftitute of
provifions, except a vulture, which they happened to fhoot
while they were out, and which, if equally divided, would
not afford each of them half a meal; and they knew not
how much more they might fuffer from the cold, as the
fnow ftill continued to fall. A dreadful teflimony o f the fe-
verity of the climate, as it was now the midft of fummer in
this part of the world, the twenty-firft of December being
here thelongefl day; and every thing might juftly be dreaded
from a phenomenon which, in the correfponding feafon, is
unknown even in Norway and Lapland.
Tuefday 17. When the morning dawned, they faw nothing round them,
as far as the eye could reach, but fnow, which feemed to lie
as thick upon the trees as upon the ground ; and the blafls
returned fo frequently, and with fuch violence, that they
found it impofQble for them to fet out: how long this might
laft they knew not, and they had but too much reafon to-
apprehend that it would confine them in that defolate foreft
till they perifhed with hunger and cold.
After having fuffered the mifery and terror of this fitua-
tion till fix o'clock in the morning, they conceived fome hope
of deliverance by difcovering. the place of the fun through
the clouds, which were become thinner, and began to break
away. Their firft care was to fee whether the poor wretches
whom they had been obliged to leave among the bullies were
yet alive; three of the company were difpatched for that
purpofe, and very foon afterwards returned with the melancholy
news, that they were dead.
Notwithftanding
Notwithftanding the flattering appearance of the fky, the 1769-
fnow ftill continued to fall fo thick that they could not ven- 1----— .
ture out upon their journey to the fliip ; but about 8 o’clock y '
a fmall regular breeze fprung up, which, with the prevailing
influence of the fun, at length cleared the air; and they
foon after, with great joy, faw the fnow fall in large flakes-
from the trees, a certain fign of an approaching thaw: they
now examined more critically the ftate of their invalids;
Brifcoe was ftill very ill, but faid, that he thought himfelf
able to walk; and Mr. Buchan was much better than either
he or his friends had any reafon to expedf. They were now,
however, prefled by the calls of hunger, to which, after long
falling, every confideration of future good or evil immediately
gives way. Before they fet forward, therefore, it was
unanimoufly agreed, that they fhould eat their vulture; the
bird was accordingly Ikinned, and, it being thought beft to
divide it before it was fit to be eaten, it was cut into ten portions,
and every man cooked his own as he thought fit.
After this repaft, which furniftied each of them with about
three mouthfuls, they prepared to fet ou t; but it was ten
o’clock before the fnow was fufliciently gone off to render a
march practicable. After a walk of about three hours, they
were very agreeably furprifed to find themfelves upon the
beach, and much nearer to the fliip than they had any reafon
to expect. Upon reviewing their track from the veflel,
they perceived, that, inftead of afcending the hill in a line,
fo as to penetrate into the country, they had made almoft a
circle round it. When they came on board, they congratulated
each other upon their fafety, with a joy that no man
can feel who has not been expofed to equal danger; and as
I had fuffered great anxiety at their not returning in the
evening of the day on which they fet out, I was not wholly
without my fliare.
I i 2 CHAP.