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we worked on. The hole became ten feet deep, then twelve feet, then fourteen feet in depth, and it was not until we had dug sixteen feet and a half into the wall, that the man who happened just then to be at work, giving a heavy blow to the stone, pierced it, and after being dazzled for a moment by the sudden entry of the light, saw the sea stretching out in front of him. He immediately stopped up the aperture, and came to impart the welcome news to his comrades.

'We took counsel together, and decided that our escape should be attempted that very night. And here I must interrupt the course of my narrative for a moment, in order to give the reader a few necessary explanations. How was it, he will say, that the officials did not perceive the destruction of the woodwork, which we had been obliged to break up to make the handles of our tools, and the bar of wood with which we had replaced the iron bar of the window? To this question I have a very simple answer to give. The officials of the prison had very little to do with us. The warders never came into our rooms except morning and evening, when they came to call the muster-roll. These visits were made at fixed hours; and I need hardly say that we were always sure to be present when they were made. We took good care, too, only to work in the day-time, for in the silence of night the dull blows struck

underground would have been audible above. The warders went from room to room, calling over the muster-roll; and having seen that all the prisoners were in their places, immediately retired, without troubling themselves about what might be going on. Besides, no détenu wishing to retain the good opinion of his comrades ever spoke to the warders; and these latter, finding themselves thus isolated, sought no intercourse with the prisoners. Again, détention being an essentially political punishment, we were not subjected to hard labour, and within the court, as well as within our rooms, were absolutely free. Another question which the reader will have asked is this: How did you manage to keep your secret unknown during these four months? Again his curiosity shall be satisfied. There was no secret, and there could not have been any. It was impossible for us to descend into our cellar and tunnel, or to remount to the surface, without being seen by those of our fellow-prisoners who happened to be in our dormitory. The dormitories being open all day long, the prisoners passed freely from one room to another; and by degrees they had all come to know of our resolution. The majority dissuaded us, and endeavoured to point out all the difficulties which stood in our way. Our project seemed to them an absolutely impossible one. They thought that, our

work having lasted so long, the officials had got scent of it, and were letting us go on, because they intended to have soldiers stationed ready to shoot us when we attempted to make our escape. We allowed our comrades to talk thus, and only asked one thing of them—that they would not betray our project. This they all promised; and, as the reader will see, they kept their word. I must, however, add, that we had deceived them as to the time of our departure. When they inquired as to the condition of our work, we carefully guarded ourselves from revealing the stage at which we had arrived. Several times I gave them to understand that our work would not be finished before the end of January; and on the very day when everything was finished, we had given no sign of our approaching departure until we were about to set out.

and this labour occupied them
two hours. On their return, we
informed our companions that
the moment for our escape had
arrived. Their emotion was cer-
tainly greater than ours. Be-
fore setting out, we took the
precaution of placing in
beds our bolsters, made to look
as much as possible like a man's
body, and with our night-caps
stuck at the top. We also
spread our prison clothes on
our beds, as we were in the
habit of doing every evening.
Our object in adopting these
precautions was to deceive the
warder when he came in the
morning to call over the muster-
roll. The stratagem succeeded;
and the officials did not know
of our flight until six o'clock
the next evening. This was
very fortunate for us, as other-
wise we should not have been
able to get away any great dis-
tance from the citadel, and we
should infallibly have been re-
taken.

'We had nothing more to do but to enlarge the hole we had 'It was the 14th of November made in the day, and to get out 1871, at nine o'clock in the eventhrough that aperture. The ing, the tide being out, and the rampart which we had pierced rocks at the foot of the ramparts is on the left of the citadel, and left bare. We had been able to therefore faces seawards; when find out the times of the tides the tide is low, the sea retires, in the almanac at the canteen. and leaves the rocks dry for Our precautions had been carea distance of sixty or seventy fully taken, and thanks to the feet around. On the night of depth of the shaft we had sunk our escape, the evening muster- at the entrance of the tunnel, roll was called as usual, and we and to the slope given to the were shut up in our dormitories. | tunnel itself, the hole which we Almost immediately, two of our had made in the wall of the number went down to complete rampart was only ten feet above the enlargement of the hole; the rocks. One after another

we crept through the tunnel, and then, getting through the hole in the wall, we were able, while still clinging with our hands to the wall of the rampart, to reach with a drop the rock beneath. Then, following all the bends of the wall, and keeping as near to it as possible, we passed round to the land side of the fortress. In like manner we passed along over the beach, keeping as near as possible to the little town situated about a thousand yards from the fortress; and thus at length, after creeping silently between the huts of the coastguardsmen, we reached the dry land, opposite a little village called Loe Malo. The tide was now coming in. It had been our intention to divide, as soon as we were clear of the fortress, into two groups of three men each, only six prisoners having ventured to escape. We, however, marched on together and without resting during all the rest of the night, in order as quickly as possible to put as great a distance as we could between us and the fortress. Our object was to reach some little port of Brittany, and then endeavour to take ship for England.

When we were brought to the citadel, the authorities had caused us to be minutely searched, and had not left any money in our possession. I had, however, succeeded in concealing a small

sum by carefully sewing it into the lining of my coat. This money was of the greatest service to us, as it enabled us on the following morning to take the railway, and thus in a few hours to put a considerable distance between us and the citadel. After marching all night, however, through a drenching rain, if we had presented ourselves as we then were at the railway station, our appearance would have excited suspicion. We had taken the precaution of bringing with us from the prison, shirts, brushes, blacking, and, in short, everything necessary to our toilet. In a place of concealment we brushed ourselves up, and dressed ourselves to the best of our ability; and when at daylight we presented ourselves at the railway station, we were clean and tidy, and appeared to have come from some place very near. I had brought a book away with me from the prison, and this I carried under my arm, to give myself the look of a traveller. On our way to the railway station, we saw three gendarmes running towards us, gun in hand. Without faltering, we walked coolly on, and as

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THE WINTERING OF JACOB HEMSKIRK AND WILLIAM BARENTZ WITH THEIR CREW IN NOVA ZEMBLA, AND HOW THEY LEFT IN AN OPEN BOAT.

TOWARDS the close of the 16th century, the spirit for commercial adventure made rapid progress in Holland, and various companies were formed to promote the interest of traffic. With the individuals composing them, some members of the Dutch Government were associated, who, by their power and influence, could accomplish what I was denied to the exertions of simple merchants. But the desire of new discoveries being conjoined with mercantile enterprize, led to the foundation of colonies in remote regions of the world, which vied for centuries with the flourishing establishments originating from the island of Britain. Sensible of the great advantages that would result from shortening the voyage from Europe to the distant climates of the East, the Dutch were at an early period occupied in searching for a passage by the north, which, according to

the geographical opinions prevailing in that age, would conduct their fleets to China, Japan, and other places in half the usual time. Though their attempts in this respect ultimately proved abortive, they were not void of utility, and led to some interesting incidents, which are partly contained in the following narrative :

Three ships sailed from the Texel, in 1594, accompanied by a fishing barque, for the purpose of discovering the northern passage, and reached as far as 77° 45′ of north latitude, when a vast surface of ice, extending to the utmost limits of the horizon, obstructed their progress. Their commanders, after betaking to the boats, and examining those creeks and shores which they were able to gain, considered it impracticable to proceed, and returned to Holland in about fourteen weeks from their departure. Notwith

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navigator enjoying equal reputation, and who had, besides, been out in both the preceding voyages.

In the same vessel also was Gerard de Veer, the author of the only history of all the calamities and adventures which ensued in prosecution of the enterprize. John Cornelisz Ryp was master or supercargo of the other.

On the 22d of May 1596, the two ships left Holland, and soon afterwards a strange phenomenon was observed in the heavens, consisting of three suns, all visible at a time, each within a parhelion, and a rainbow traversing the whole besides which, two other rainbows

standing this disappointment, another voyage was resolved upon, and its success so confidently anticipated, that no less than seven vessels, six of which were laden with commodities for eastern traffic, sailed on the same pursuit in the course of the following year. These vessels found Russians collecting whale-oil and the teeth of the sea-cow in latitude 72° or 73° north, with whom they interchanged mutual civilities, and saw a race of people, whom they called Samoides, at the entrance of Waygat's Straits. Soon afterwards the ice opposed their advancing towards the northeast, into what they supposed the open ocean: thick fogs pre-likewise appeared. Detached vailed, and a continual change of wind. They passed through Waygat's Straits, however, and landed on Staten Island. Thence surveying the surrounding sea, and observing great quantities of ice drifting from the east, they returned through the straits, and abandoned the passage as impracticable.

Though these successive failures repressed the ardour of the Dutch, they did not lose sight of an object which they had viewed with such predilection; and two vessels were once more fitted out, at the charge of the city of Amsterdam, for resuming the voyage of discovery by the north. One of them was commanded by Jacob Hemskirk, an experienced mariner, with whom was conjoined William Barentz as pilot, a

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flakes of ice were seen floating on the 5th of June, which the people on board at first sight took for a flock of swans swimming in the sea, until a nearer approach proved their error. Sailing through water of a deep green colour, they discovered an island about five miles long, in 74° 30' north latitude, on which they landed.

The party with Barentz having descried a white bear in the sea, pursued it in the boat, in hopes of being able to cast a noose round its neck. But on closing with the animal, its size and menacing aspect deterred them, until they obtained a reinforcement of men and arms. Yet, during four glasses that the renewed encounter lasted with the bear, all their exertions to destroy it proved unavailing; and

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