DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.70301#0420
382 kirby’s wonderful museum.
which were washed on shore, viz. some pieces of salt beef,
likewise some fresh meat that hung over the stern, and a
quantity of onions which the captain had on board for sale.
This relief was very seasonable, it being now the fourth day
since we had eaten any kind of provision whatever. Having
no utensils we dressed our meat in the best manner we
could, and made what we thought a most delicious repast.
The sense of hunger being assuaged we fell to work to col-
lect all the provisions we could find scattered upon the beach.
Our next care was to get ourselves under cover, and to form
some kind of shelter from the piercing blast. This task was
not an easy one, so many of our company being unable to
move, and our number being reduced to seventeen, as
already mentioned.
A quantity of deals had floated on shore from the wreck;
of these we carried about two hundred and fifty into the
wood, and by ten at night completed a kind of house about
twenty feet long and ten wide, which was constructed in the
following manner:—We cut two poles of the above-men-
tioned length, and having no nails tied them at a proper
height on the outside of two trees, at the distance of twenty
feet from each other. The interval between the poles, which
was equal to the breadth of the trees, served for the smoke
of our fire to go through; the fire itself being laid in an
oblong position, extending itself nearly the whole length
of the house. Against these cross poles we placed boards
with a slope of about sixty degrees towards the ground,
which constituted the two principal sides. The two other
sides were composed of boards placed perpendicularly, the
trunks of the trees being taken in and forming part of each
side. On one of these sides, which looked towards the
south-east, we left a vacancy for the entrance.
On examining the quantity of provisions we had collected,
we had the satisfaction to find that we had in store between
two and three hundred pounds of salt beef, and a consider--
which were washed on shore, viz. some pieces of salt beef,
likewise some fresh meat that hung over the stern, and a
quantity of onions which the captain had on board for sale.
This relief was very seasonable, it being now the fourth day
since we had eaten any kind of provision whatever. Having
no utensils we dressed our meat in the best manner we
could, and made what we thought a most delicious repast.
The sense of hunger being assuaged we fell to work to col-
lect all the provisions we could find scattered upon the beach.
Our next care was to get ourselves under cover, and to form
some kind of shelter from the piercing blast. This task was
not an easy one, so many of our company being unable to
move, and our number being reduced to seventeen, as
already mentioned.
A quantity of deals had floated on shore from the wreck;
of these we carried about two hundred and fifty into the
wood, and by ten at night completed a kind of house about
twenty feet long and ten wide, which was constructed in the
following manner:—We cut two poles of the above-men-
tioned length, and having no nails tied them at a proper
height on the outside of two trees, at the distance of twenty
feet from each other. The interval between the poles, which
was equal to the breadth of the trees, served for the smoke
of our fire to go through; the fire itself being laid in an
oblong position, extending itself nearly the whole length
of the house. Against these cross poles we placed boards
with a slope of about sixty degrees towards the ground,
which constituted the two principal sides. The two other
sides were composed of boards placed perpendicularly, the
trunks of the trees being taken in and forming part of each
side. On one of these sides, which looked towards the
south-east, we left a vacancy for the entrance.
On examining the quantity of provisions we had collected,
we had the satisfaction to find that we had in store between
two and three hundred pounds of salt beef, and a consider--