The explorers had
anchored in one of the sheltered harbors, which the sailors call
"holes-in-the-wall." The crews mutinied. They would go no farther
through ice-drift and fog to an unknown sea. Radisson never waited for
the contagion of fear to work. He ordered anchors up and headed for
open sea. Then he tried to encourage the sailors with promises. They
would not hear him; for the ship's galley was nearly empty of food.
Then Radisson threatened the first mutineer to show rebellion with such
severe punishment as the hard customs of the age permitted. The crew
sulked, biding its time. At that moment the lookout shouted "Sail ho!"
All hands discerned a ship with a strange sail, such as Dutch and
Spanish pirates carried, bearing down upon them shoreward. The lesser
fear was forgotten in the greater. The _St. Pierre's_ crew crowded
sail. Heading about, the two explorers' ships threaded the rock reefs
like pursued deer. The pirate came on full speed before the wind.
Night fell while Radisson was still hiding among the rocks.
Notwithstanding reefs and high seas, while the pirate ship hove to for
the night, Radisson stole out in the dark and gave his pursuer the
slip. The chase had saved him a mutiny.
As the vessels drove northward, the ice drifted past like a white world
afloat. When Radisson approached the entrance to Hudson Bay, he met
floes in impenetrable masses. So far the ships had avoided delay by
tacking along the edges of the ice-fields, from lake to lake of ocean
surrounded by ice.
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