Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - Chapter XIX.
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carried on a stretcher to the sand pits and placed in
one of the huts by the side of Steller’s. The few
that were able to work sought to construct huts for
all. Driftwood was collected, pits were dug and roofed,
and provisions were brought from the ship. Steller
was both cook and physician — the soul of the
enterprise. On November 13, the barrack to be used as
a hospital was completed, and thither the sick were
immediately removed. But still the misery kept
increasing. Steller had already given up all hopes of
Bering’s recovery. Waxel, who had been able to keep
up as long as they were on the sea, now hovered
between life and death. There was special anxiety
on account of his low condition, as he was the only
competent seaman that still had any influence, since
Khitroff, by his hot and impetuous temper, had
incurred the hatred of all. Moreover, those sent to
reconnoiter, returned with the news that in a westerly
direction they could find no connection with
Kamchatka or discover the slightest trace of human
habitation. It became stormy; for several days the boat
could not venture out, and the ship, their only hope,
lay very much exposed near a rocky shore. The
anchor was not a very good one, and there was great
danger that the vessel would be driven out to sea,
or be dashed to pieces on the rocks. The ten or
twelve able-bodied men that were left, being obliged
to stand in icy water half a day at a time, soon gave
way under such burdens. Sickness and want were
on every hand. Despair stared them in the face, and
not until November 25, when the vessel was driven
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