sortie. Experience shows that there is no such protector against the
effect of cold as a full stomach, more especially if the food be warm and
nourishing. This was understood by Roswell; and not only did he cause the
whole party that set forth with him at that late and menacing hour to
receive this sustenance, but he ordered the kettle of boiling coffee to be
carried with them, and kept two lamps burning, for the double purpose of
maintaining the heat, and of having a fire ready on reaching the wreck.
The oil of the sea-elephant, together with pieces of canvass prepared for
the purpose, supplied the necessary materials.

So intensely severe was the weather, that Roswell had serious thoughts of
returning when he reached the spot where the black had been found. But the
picture of Daggett's situation that occurred to his mind, urged him on,
and he proceeded. Every precaution had been taken to exclude the cold, as
it is usually termed, which, as it respects the body, means little else
than keeping the vital heat in, and very useful were these provisions
found to be. Skins formed the principal defence, though the men had long
adopted the very simple but excellent expedient of wearing two shirts.
Owing to this, and to the other measures taken, neither of the four was
struck with a chill, and they all continued on.

At the place mentioned by the black, the body of one of Daggett's best
men, a boat-steerer, was found. The man was dead, of course, and the
corpse was as rigid as a billet of wood. Every particle of moisture in it
had congealed, until the whole of what had been a very fine and manly
frame, lay little more than a senseless lump of ice. A few degrees to the
southward of the spot where it was now seen, it is probable that this
relic of humanity would have retained its form and impression, until the
trump sounded to summon it to meet its former tenant, the spirit, in
judgment.

No time was lost in useless lamentations over the body of this man, who
was much of a favourite among the Oyster Ponders. Twenty minutes later,
the second corpse was found; both the bodies lying in what was the
customary track between the house and the wreck. It was the last that had
died; but, like that of the unfortunate man just described, it was in a
state to be preserved ten thousand years, without the occurrence of a
thaw. Merely glancing at the rigid features of the face, in order to
identify the person, Roswell passed on, the chill fee