Accidents > Dangers of the deep, or, Narratives of shipwreck and adventure at sea

322 WRECK OF THE DODDIIfGTOlf
by the weather. The smith having fortun¬
ately found the ring and nut of a bower
anchor, which served him for an anvil, sup¬
plied chissels, axes, hammers, and nails, as
they were required ; and the carpenter used
them with great dexterity and dispatch, until
the 31st of the month, when he fell sick.
As the lives of the whole company were
dependent on the carpenter’s safety, they
watched his recovery with the utmost impa¬
tience and anxiety; and to their unspeakable
joy, his convalescence was such on the 2d of
August, as to enable him to return to work.
Meantime the stores which had been saved
from the wreck were so nearly exhausted,
that it was necessary to restrict each man to
an allowance of two ounces of bread a-day,
while water also fell short. It was resolved
to keep the salt pork to victual the new vessel.
In this distressing state they had recourse
to several expedients. In digging a well
they were disappointed in their hopes of find¬
ing a spring; but they succeeded in knock •
ing down some of the gannets that settled on
the top of the rock. The flesh, however,
was very rank, of a fishy taste, and as black
as a sloe. They also made a catamaran, or