80 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



principal portion of which was in latitude 69 10'. A clear strip of water appearing on the east 

 shore, leading along the land to the northeast, they worked along through it to within a few miles 

 of Icy Cape. Here some of tin- vessels anchored, unable to proceed farther on account of the ice 

 lying on Blossom Shoals. 



"About the Cth of August the ice cm the shoals started, and several ships got under way. 

 In a few days most of the fleet was north of the shoals, and, aided by favorable weather, they 

 worked to the northeast as far as Wainwright Inlet, eight vessels reaching there on the 7th, 

 Here the ships either anchored or made fast to the ice, which was very heavy and densely packed, 

 and whaling was carried on briskly for several days, and every encouragement was given for a 

 favorable catch. On the lith of August a sadden change of wind set the ice inshore, catching a 

 huge number of boats which were cruising for whales in the open ice, and forcing the ships to get 

 under way 1o avoid being crushed. The vessels worked inshore under the lee of the ground ice, 

 and succeeded, despite the difficulties of the situation, in saving their boats by hauling them for 

 long distances over the ice, some of them, however, being badly stoven. On the 13th the ice 

 grounded, leaving a narrow strip of water along the laud up to Point Belcher. In this open 

 water lay the fleet anchored or fast to the ice, waiting for the expected northeast wind that was 

 to relieve them of their icy barrier, whaling constantly being carried on by the boats, though 

 necessarily under many adversities. 



"On the 15th of August the wind came around to the westward, driving the ice still closer 

 to the shore and compelling the vessels to work close in to the land. The drift of the ice inland 

 was so rapid that some of the vessels were compelled to slip their cables, there being no time to 

 weigh anchor. By this event the fleet was driven into a narrow strip of water not over a half 

 a mile in width at its widest part. Here, scattered along the coast for 20 miles, they lay, the water 

 from 14 to 24 feet deep, and ice as far as the lookouts at the mastheads could see. Whaling was 

 still carried on with the boats off Sea-Horse Island and Point Franklin, although the men were 

 obliged to cut up the whales on the ice and tow the blubber to the ships. 



" On the -5th a strong northeast gale set in and drove the ice to a distance of from 4 to 8 

 miles offshore, and renewed attention was given to the pursuit of the whale. Up to this time no 

 immediate danger had been anticipated by the captains beyond that incidental to their usual 

 sojourn in these seas. The Eskimo, nevertheless, with the utmost friendliness, advised theni to 

 get away with all possible speed, as the sea would not again open; but this was contrary to the 

 Arctic experience of the whalemen, and they resolved to hold their position. 



"On the 29th began the series of conflicting circumstances resulting in the destruction of the 

 fleet. A southwest wind sprang up, light in the morning, but freshening so toward evening that 

 the ice returned inshore with such rapidity as to catch some of the ships in the pack. The rest of 

 the fleet retreated ahead of the ice, and anchored in from. 3 to 4 fathoms of water, the ice still 

 coming in and small ice packing around them. The heavy floe-ice grounded in shoal water and 

 between it and the shore lay the ships, with scarcely room to swing at their anchors. 



"On the 2d of September the brig Comet was caught by the heavy ice and completely crushed, 

 her crew barely making their escape vo the other vessels. She was pinched until her timbers all 

 snapped and the stern was forced out. and hung suspended for three or four days, being in the 

 mean time thoroughly wrecked by the other vessels ; then the ice relaxed its iron grip and she 

 sunk. Still our hardy whalemen hoped that the looked-for northeasterly gale would come, and 

 t'clt greater uneasiness on account of the loss of time .than because of their present peril. Their 

 experience could not point io the time when the favoring gale had Tailed to assure their egress. 

 Nothing but ice was visible oil' shore, however, the only clear water being where they lay, and 



