forward in the broad bow, there is a bollard or short post fixed firmly to the stem. This is in a line with the notch in the bows, round which the harpooner takes a turn of the line when fast in the whale; another, iron-bound, to carry the swivel-gun of one and a-half inch bore, strong enough to throw a harpoon of ten pounds weight a distance of twenty yards with perfect accuracy. This support is firmly fixed to the keel, the bollard being twisted to enable the running bollard to pass a little to its left.

Then there are the lances, and harpoons of various kinds; one harpoon head having the handle firmly fixed, to which the line is secured; another has the handle made to disengage itself when the harpoon, to which the line is attached, is firmly planted in the hide. The former is used for whale fishing, the latter for striking seals and walrus.

There are besides lances of most formidable proportions, mounted upon long shafts, to strike at the wounded whale when he returns to the surface after his dive of some forty minutes' duration. These weapons rest securely on a suitable receptacle. The oars ply upon well-greased matting, and, owing to this simple arrangement, the boats are propelled without the least noise to disturb the floating

monsters.

6.6

TROUBLES IN THE ICE.

89

As the men busy themselves with commendable alacrity, they spin yarns without number of former voyages: their adventures and disasters furnish a never-failing supply of details. Two weather-beaten men told how five winters ago the Diana, a steam bark, of Hull, was beset in the ice in Davis' Straits, and how the captain of another vessel agreed with them to stand by each other in every difficulty that might arise. They told of their long and laborious voyage to Lancaster Sound, where they were nipped" in the ice, and the hatchway of the Diana was twisted completely round. Turning south again they were beset in the middle ice, and all these difficulties were encountered by a ship hardly supplied with necessaries for the voyage out. The Diana was short also in her coal supply, and when her last bushel was expended and they were forced to rely on their sails alone, they had the misfortune of seeing the ice open and their consort steam away without even offering a helping hand. Their efforts to extricate themselves by the tedious method of warping, proved abortive, and the ice closed in upon them once more, cutting off all chance of escape. All through the long winter months that ensued they patiently waited for the help they expected from companions who might have found some way to their

relief; but in the April following, when they were once more set free, they learned that the man who might have saved them all this woe by one short hour's help, had informed every anxious inquirer that the Diana was secure from danger, and needed no assistance from without. Most of the crew survived their difficulties, but the captain and nine of the men were unable to cope with the sufferings of their enforced exile, and died during the winter. The remainder of the men, with tattered clothes, ill-suited to the severity of the climate, reduced to mere skelctons from want of food, and by reason of the sickness induced by their miserable condition, managed somehow to work their tottering bark, crazy and liable. every minute to go to the bottom by reason of her injuries; drifting rather than sailing as far south as the Shetlands, some fishermen at length fell in with her in the month of May. These worthy fellows, struck by the miserable appearance of the unfortunate Diana, ventured on board, and found the nearly worn-out survivors, some in their beds incapable of helping themselves, others on deck in nearly as sad a plight. They brought the leaky vessel safely into harbour, devoted themselves to the task of restoring the poor fellows to health and to their friends; and we now had two of these Diana men on board with us, who,

but for certain indelible marks caused by the exposure and incessant toil at the pumps, seemed as capable of enduring the vicissitudes of many a future year's Arctic voyaging as the ablest seaman on board our schooner.

For two days we have the dense fog thick about us. It is in vain we strain our eyes in the direction of Van Mayen's Island, whose snow-clad peaks of Beerenberg have often been seen at a distance of ninety miles; but we know that we are in the vicinity of land by

the presence of sea-birds on the wing, whose flight is ever round the ship and towards the land we cannot see. Has not Providence placed these winged messengers of warning to protect the heedless sailor from rushing on a dismal fate? This rock-bound rugged

coast lies directly in the ship's course, and as we near their home the whole air is alive with white-winged armies, and the high cliffs are tenanted with another host at rest. It is a place of marvels;-as if to mock the wondering crew, two rocks stand out from the land so exactly resembling swift-sailing ships, that even a reference to the chart, where the fact is duly recorded, hardly convinces us of their unreality. On they seem to come with all sail set, and heeling over to the favouring gale. But they are rocks and not ships, after all.

The best known feature of the island of Jan Mayen is the magnificent Peak of Beerenberg. This mountain rises in icy splendour to a height of some six thousand eight hundred and seventy feet above the sea-level.

The coast presents a rocky aspect; in some parts the bold cliffs rise out of the waves, and at such places are altogether inaccessible on the western side. There are, however, several indentations, and amongst these there are many that deserve the name of bays, and in these bays there are many spots where good anchorage can be found. It was here the Dutch formerly made little settlements or fishing stations, at a time when the "right whale" was found at certain seasons along the rocky coast, and at these stations they "tried' down the oil by suitable boiling apparatus erected near