The fire had reached the place where the gunpowder was kept, and although there was not a great quantity of it, there was enough when it exploded to burst open the deck.

The wind, having free ingress, fanned the fire into a furious blaze, and in a few moments the _Dolphin_ was wrapped in flames from stem to stern.

It was a little after sunset when the fire was discovered.

In two hours later the good ship was burned to the water's edge.

Then the waves swept in, and while they extinguished the fire they sank the blackened hull, leaving the two crowded boats floating in darkness on the bosom of the ice-laden sea..