After waiting several hours, and none of
the other boats making their appearance, Tite headed his boat west and
stood down the coast, close in shore, in the hope of finding a safe
landing place, perhaps a friendly settlement. An almost perpendicular
bluff of rocks, more than two hundred feet high, forming a walled coast,
such as is seen in the Bay of Fundy, and at the foot of which the sea
dashed and broke, rendering it impossible to make a landing, extended as
far as the eye could reach. Along this frowning coast the boat swept
until nightfall; but not a human being was seen, nor a place where they
could land safely discovered.
Three days and three nights they coasted along this bold sea-wall, and
now their provisions and water had given out, and such was their
suffering from thirst, hunger, and cold, that two of the crew died from
sheer exhaustion. Indeed, it was only extraordinary exertion on the part
of Tite, and his manner of encouraging the others, that kept them from
giving up in despair. Early on the morning of the fourth day an
indentation in the land was discovered, sloping into a quiet little
valley, a place of welcome to the weary, through which a stream of water
winded down into the sea.
Pages:
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313