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 There was no good place-only marsh and muck and stunted trees, twisted ugly by the wind. They chose the least bad place. And working like donkeys, they hauled the ship on shore. By November 10, the Discovery was frozen fast. The arctic winter closed around them. The men suffered from the unbearable cold. The lack of fresh fruits and vegetables brought on scurvy. This disease caused their gums to turn black and bleed. Teeth fell out, and some men grew too weak to move. The days of endless night dragged on. The birds saved them. First it was the snow-white arctic ptarmigans. They came in flocks all the long winter. Hudson reckoned they'd killed some twelve hundred of them. When the ptarmigans left in early spring, other fowl came- ducks, geese, and teal. |