ck by cutting a regular passage to the
main hatch through the ice. The schooner stood nearly upright, sustained
by fragments of the floe; and there were extensive caverns all around her,
produced by the random manner in which the cakes had come up out of their
proper element like so many living things. Among these caverns one might
have wandered for miles without once coming out into the open air, though
they were cold and cheerless, and had little to attract the adventurer
after the novelty was abated. In rising from the water, the schooner had
been roughly treated; but once sustained by the ice, her transit had been
easy and tolerably safe. Several large cakes lay on or over her, sustained
more by other cakes that rested on the rocks than by the timbers of the
vessel herself. These cakes formed a sort of roof, and as they did not
drip, they served to make a shelter against the wind; for, at the point
where the wreck lay the south-west gales came howling round the base of
the mountain, piercing the marrow itself in the bones. At the hut it was
very different. There the heights made a lee that extended all over the
cape, and for some distance to the westward; while the whole power the sun
possessed in that high latitude was cast, very obliquely it is true, but
clearly, and without any other drawback than its position in the ecliptic,
fairly on the terrace, the hut above, and the rocks around it. On the
natural terrace, indeed, it was still pleasant to walk and work, and even
to sit for a few hours in the middle of the day; for winter was not yet
come in earnest in that frozen world.

One of Roswell's first objects was to transport most of the eatables from
the wreck; for he foresaw the need there would be for everything of the
sort. Neither vessel had laid in a stock of provisions for a longer period
than about twelve months, of which nearly half were now gone. This
allowance applied to salted meats and bread, which are usually regarded as
the base of a ship's stores. There were several barrels of flour, a few
potatoes, a large quantity of onions, a few barrels of corn-meal, or
'injin,' as it is usually termed in American parlance, an entire barrel of
pickled cucumbers, another about half full of cabbage preserved in the
same way, and an entire barrel of molasses. In addition, there was a cask
of whiskey, a little wine and brandy to be used medicinally, sugar, brown,
whitey-brown and browny-white, and a pretty fair allowa