This Mortality Prevailed For Ten
Days, From The 19th To The 29th Of December.
On the 29th the last remainder
of the wine was served out, and every one resigned himself to meet death,
which seemed at hand.
Some of the people, urged by raging thirst, drank sea
water, which evidently hastened their dissolution. Others had recourse to
their own urine, and this nauseous beverage, joined to the precaution of
eating as little salt provision as possible, contributed most of all to the
preservation of their lives.
For the space of five days they continued in this dreadful situation,
sailing all the time to the north-eastward. At length on the 4th of
January, one of the people who sat in the bow of the boat, descried
somewhat to leeward which he conceived to be the shadow of land, and
immediately informed the crew of his discovery in an anxious voice. All
eyes were now eagerly directed to this object, and as day broke they saw
with extreme joy that it really was the land. The sight of this welcome
object inspired them with fresh vigour, and they now plied their oars in
order to arrive the sooner at the shore; but on account of its great
distance, as well as the shortness of the day, which was only two hours
long, they were unable to accomplish this desire. Besides, they were now so
weak as to be unable to make use of their oars for any length of time; and
as night soon overtook them, and was of long continuance, it seemed to men
in their forlorn state as if it would never end. When the next day broke,
they could no longer discern the land which they had seen the day before;
but they discovered another mountainous country very near them and to
leeward. That they might not lose the way to this during the ensuing night,
they took its bearings by the compass, and hoisting sail with a fair wind
they reached it about four o'clock in the evening. On approaching the
shore, they observed that it was surrounded by many shallows, as they
distinctly heard the sea breaking over these; but they gave themselves up
to the guidance of providence, and at one time the boat grounded on a
shoal, but a vast wave came and floated them over, and at the same time
carried them safely to land upon a shelving rock, which was now their great
security, as the spot was encompassed on every side with rugged projecting
rocks, and they could not possibly have got on shore in any other place.
Here therefore they ran their boat on shore; and those who were on the bows
leaped directly on the coast, which they found entirely covered with snow,
which they swallowed in immense quantities, filling their parched and
burning stomachs and bowels. They likewise filled a kettle and pitcher for
those who from weakness remained in the boat; and Quirini alleges, that he
swallowed as much snow as he would have found it difficult to have carried
on his back, all his happiness and welfare seeming to depend upon the
quantity of it he could swallow. This extravagant quantity of snow agreed
so ill with some of the people, that five of them died that night; though
their deaths were attributed to the sea water which they had previously
drank.
SECTION II.
Preservation of Quirini on the Coast of Norway, and Residence In the Isle
of Rostoe.
As they had no rope with, which to make fast their boat to the shore and
prevent it from being dashed to pieces, they remained in it the whole
night. Next day at dawn, sixteen weak, miserable and exhausted wretches,
the sad remains of forty-seven who had originally taken refuge in the large
boat, went on shore and laid themselves down in the snow. Hunger, however,
soon obliged them to examine if there might not remain some of the
provisions which they had brought with them from the ship: All they found
was a very small ham, an inconsiderable remnant of cheese, and some biscuit
dust in a bag, mixed with the dung of mice. These they warmed by means of a
small fire, which they made of the boat seats, and in some measure appeased
their hunger. On the following day, having convinced themselves beyond
doubt that the rock on which they then were was quite desert and
uninhabited, they resolved to quit it in hopes of being able to reach some
inhabited island, or part of the adjacent coast of Norway; but, after
filling five small casks with snow water, and getting into the boat to put
their resolution into execution, the water ran in torrents through all the
seams, and the boat went to the bottom immediately, so that they were
forced to get on shore again quite drenched in the sea. During the whole of
the preceding long night, the boat had been beating against the rock, which
had loosened its planks and opened all the seams. Despairing now of any
relief, as they were utterly destitute of any means to repair their boat,
they constructed two small tents of their oars and sails, to shelter
themselves from the weather, and hewed the materials of their boat in
pieces to make a fire to warm themselves. The only food they were able to
procure consisted in a few muscles and other shell-fish, which they picked
up along the shore. Thirteen of the company were lodged in one of the
tents, and three in the other. The smoke of the wet wood caused their faces
and eyes to swell so much that they were afraid of becoming totally blind;
and, what added prodigiously to their sufferings, they were almost devoured
by lice and maggots, which they threw by handfuls into the fire. The
secretary of Quirini had the flesh on his neck eaten bare to the sinews by
these vermin, and died in consequence; besides him, three Spaniards of a
robust frame of body likewise died, who probably lost their lives in
consequence of having drank sea water while in the boat; and so weak were
the thirteen who still remained alive, that during three days they were
unable to drag away the dead bodies from the fire side.
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