After leaving the solid mass, great caution had to be exercised to save their vessels from the icebergs which enclosed them on all sides. When they got beyond these, they encountered storms of the most violent character, and on several occasions their own vessel was on the point of foundering. It was during this period that they had lost sight of their companions. They had been drenched for days and nights together by chilling rains, and piercing winds tossed them in every direction. When the storms cleared off, they were almost scorched by the rays of a' burning sun, from which they suffered more than from the wet weather and storms.
Sickness had now set in among the crew, who were fast becoming aged and withered under their trials, when they beheld the welcome sight of land on the horizon. As they approached it, however, it presented a dismal and uninviting appearance, consisting of low sandy beaches, with numerous sandhills, on which they could see only a few stunted trees and scanty herbage stretching farther inland. They followed the shore for some distance, and at length came to the mouth of a large river, which they entered in the hope of finding a suitable place of shelter for themselves and their vessel.
