bly before left at a distance.

He now intimated that his people at the village were in want of food,
and that after eating and resting, he must go away to them; but he
signified that he would soon again return; and as a proof of his good
intentions, left them a large portion of the first seal that he had
killed.

Long before dawn the next morning the hunter set off. That day, though
one of suffering, was passed in thankfulness by the shipwrecked seamen.
Their lives had been preserved, food had been supplied to them, and they
might now hope, even if they could not reach the Danish settlements, to
pass the winter in safety in the camp of the friendly natives.

Two days passed by, and the hunter did not return. The eyes of the
three men were free from pain, and when they awoke after the third night
of their sojourn in the hut, they could see clearly. Archy, with
unwearied diligence, had tended to all their wants, and he had
frequently gone out to look for the expected return of the hunter,
whenever they had expressed anxiety on the subject. At length they
agreed that if he did not appear that evening, to set out without
waiting for him longer, as their supply of blubber was nearly exhausted,
and without it they could not keep their lamp burning. The morning
came; still the hunter did not appear. Packing up, therefore, the lamp
with its wicks, and every particle of blubber they could scrape
together, they again set out. They soon found it necessary, however, to
tie some spare comforters round their heads, to shade their eyes from
the glare of the sun, the pricking sensation, the prelude to
snow-blindness, again quickly returning.

After travelling for some hours, they looked out anxiously for the huts
of the Esquimaux they expected to see. The traces of their friend's
sledge and footsteps had been entirely obliterated by a fall of snow, so
that they had not the benefit of them as a guide; still they went on.
Frequently icebergs rose up in their course, and at length these became
so numerous that they were completely bewildered among them. After a
time they emerged again into a more open space, when Archy, whose quick
eyes were ever on the alert, cried out that he saw three objects moving
some way ahead.

"They are bears, I do believe," he exclaimed, "and they seem as if they
were digging into the snow with their snouts." After going on a little
further the rest agreed that he was right. Andrew got his rifle