Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - Chapter XIX.
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For blubber, the only medicine at hand, he had an
unconquerable loathing. Nor were the frightful sufferings
he saw about him, his chagrin caused by the fate of the
expedition, and his anxiety for the future of his men, at
all calculated to check his disease. From hunger, cold,
and grief he slowly pined away. “He was, so to speak,
buried alive. The sand kept continually rolling down
upon him from the sides of the pit and covered his feet.
At first this was removed, but finally he asked that it
might remain, as it furnished him with a little of the
warmth he so sorely needed. Soon half of his body
was under the sand, so that after his death, his
comrades had to exhume him to give him a decent burial.”
He died on the 8th[1] of December, 1741, two hours before
daybreak, from inflammation of the bowels.
“Sad as his death was,” says Steller, “that
intrepidity and seriousness with which he prepared to meet
death was most worthy of admiration.” He thanked
God for having been his guide from youth, and for
having given him success through life. He sought in
every way possible to encourage his companions in
misfortune to hopeful activity, and inspire them with faith
in Providence and the future. Notwithstanding his
conviction that they had been cast upon the shores of an
unknown land, he was not disposed to discourage the
others by expressing himself on this point. On the 9th
of December his body was interred in the vicinity of
the huts, between the graves of the second mate and
the steward. At the departure from the island there
was placed upon his grave a plain wooden cross, which
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