As this was very powdery and would not bind well, we eventually had to
supplement it with the only spare blanket and an overcoat. All this
work was very hard on our frost-bitten fingers, and materials were very
limited.
"At last all was completed and we were invited to bring in our sodden
bags, which had been lying out in the drizzling rain for several hours;
for the tents and boats that had previously sheltered them had all been
requisitioned to form our new residence.
"We took our places under Wild's direction. There was no squabbling
for best places, but it was noticeable that there was something in the
nature of a rush for the billets up on the thwarts of the boats.
"Rickenson, who was still very weak and ill, but very cheery, obtained
a place in the boat directly above the stove, and the sailors having
lived under the 'Stancomb Wills' for a few days while she was upside
down on the beach, tacitly claimed it as their own, and flocked up on
to its thwarts as one man. There was one 'upstair' billet left in this
boat, which Wild offered to Hussey and Lees simultaneously, saying that
the first man that got his bag up could have the billet. Whilst Lees
was calculating the pros and cons Hussey got his bag, and had it up
just as Lees had determined that the pros had it. There were now four
men up on the thwarts of the 'Dudley Docker', and the five sailors and
Hussey on those of the 'Stancomb Wills', the remainder disposing
themselves on the floor.
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