Mr. Fisher said, all he had with him to eat by the way, when he left
the settlement, was "some burnt coffee in his pocket." The others with
him were no better off. It is wonderful that they lived amid so much
destitution and exposure. What will not necessity compel men to do!
Mr. Fisher, with the rest, asked the natives for something to eat;
and he obtained a small piece of frozen whale's blubber. In less than
two hours they were brought to the huts, and to their great joy found
provisions more abundant. The whole distance they had traveled exceeded
twenty miles.
A few days after the departure of Mr. Fisher's company, and the one
that preceded his, word was brought to the settlement by some of the
traveling natives, that the whole party were frozen to death.
This was sad intelligence indeed, and yet it was what we greatly
feared. We, however, had our doubts as to the truth of the report. We
had some very strong reasons for suspecting the natives of lying--
a habit we perceived identified with another, viz., that of stealing.
And yet the report could not fail to produce in all our minds intense
solicitude respecting the fate of our companions.
They ventured forth, risking their own lives, in order to find better
accommodations for the company. As soon as they should find better
quarters, and the prospect of preserving us from starvation, the
agreement was, to send us immediate word; and then small companies
would follow them from time to time, so as not to discommode a small
settlement of only a few huts with our whole number coming into it at
once.
The reluctance of the natives in our settlement to assist us in finding
new quarters, when they knew their provisions were getting wretchedly
low, and when they knew, too, that we had not more than one third of
our ordinary fare, and that we were becoming weaker and more emaciated
day after day, their reluctance to assist us, or to direct us to the
nearest settlement, can be accounted for only on the principle that if
we died, they wanted us to die with them; or that they did not desire
we should go to any other settlement. What their particular motive was
in this respect, we could not satisfactorily ascertain.
During this time of uncertainty concerning the fate of Mr. Fisher
and those with him, Captain Norton called the company together,
and proposed that another party should go out and look for their
companions, and ascertain, if possible, whether they were living or
not. Eight or ten days had thus passed away, and nothing was heard from
the first party, nor could we learn any thing definitely about them
from the natives, though we had reason to believe they knew more about
them than we did.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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