Chapter 15

"Ye dart upon the deep, and straight is heard
A wilder roar; and men grow pale, and pray:
Ye fling its waters round you, as a bird
Flings o'er his shivering plumes the fountain's spray.
See! to the breaking mast the sailor clings!
Ye scoop the ocean to its briny springs,
And take the mountain billows on your wings,
And pile the wreck of navies round the bay."

Bryant's Winds.

No unnecessary delay was permitted to interfere with the one great purpose
of the sealers. The season was so short, and the difficulties and dangers
of entering among and of quitting the ice were so very serious, that every
soul belonging to the schooner felt the importance of activity and
industry. The very day that succeeded the vessel's arrival, not only was
great progress made in the preliminary arrangements, but a goodly number
of fur-seals, of excellent quality, were actually killed and secured. Two
noble sea-elephants were also lanced, animals that measured near thirty
feet in length, each of which yielded a very ample return for the risk and
trouble of taking it, in oil. The skins of the fur-seals, however, were
Roswell's principal object; and glad enough was he to find the creature
that pays this tribute to the wants and luxuries of man, in numbers
sufficient to promise him a speedy return to the northward. While the
slaughter, and skinning, and curing, and trying out were all in active
operation, our young man paid some attention to certain minor
arrangements, which had a direct bearing on the comforts of his people, as
well as the getting in of cargo.

An old store-house, of respectable size, had stood on the deacon's wharf,
while the schooner was fitting out, but it had been taken to pieces, in
order to make room for a more eligible substitute. The materials of this
building, Roswell Gardiner had persuaded his owner to send on board, and
they had all been received and stowed away, a part below and a part on
deck, as a provision for the possible wants of the people. As it was
necessary to clear the decks and break out the hold, all these materials,
consisting principally of the timbers of the frame, the siding, and a
quantity of planks and boards, were now floated ashore in the cove, and
hauled upon the rocks. Roswell took a leisure moment to select a place for
the site of his building, which he intended to erect at once, in order to
save the time that would otherwise be lost in pulling between the schooner
and the shore.

It was not difficult to find the sort of spot that was desirable for the
dwelling. That chosen by Gardiner was a shelf of rock of sufficient
extent, that lay perfectly exposed to the north and north-east, or to the
sunny side of the island, while it was sheltered from