HAYES, HALL AND OTHER ADVENTURERS 315 



On the last day of August the "Alert" met a particularly heavy 

 lloe, the ice forming it being of the massive character which denoted 

 mat its origin was the Polar Sea. Once the grinding mass of hum- 

 mocks, rising higher than the vessel's decks, threatened to enfold 

 her. There would have been no hope of escape if they had, and only 

 by persistently ramming her way through some of the looser ice did 

 she escape in towards the shore. Next day a strong gale sprang up 

 from the southwest, and the "Alert" went along at ten miles an hour 

 in an open channel between the land and the heavy pack which was 

 drifting about three miles out. By midday they reached latitude 

 82 degrees 24 minutes north, and the flags were run up to the 

 mastheads amid general rejoicing, for it was the farthest point north 

 to which a ship had yet sailed. 



With the channel showing clear ahead of them and the spank- 

 ing breeze astern, expectation was high on board that they would 

 be able to sail right up to latitude 84 degrees, but within an hour 

 their hopes were suddenly and thoroughly checked. On hauling to 

 the westward they rounded a promontory and found that the land 

 trended away to the west. The wind veered round to the northwest 

 and drove the ice in upon the channel, which gradually became 

 narrower until, when off Cape Sheridan, the main pack was observed 

 to be touching the grounded ice and effectually barring all further 

 progress. The "Alert" was run close up to the end of the channel, 

 and then, when it was certain that there was no chance of getting 

 through the barrier, she was anchored to a floe which rested aground 

 off the cape. The next day, as the heavy ice of the pack was grind- 

 ing against the stranded floe, and an opening just large enough for 

 the vessel to get in was observed in the floe, she was warped into 

 the basin. 



She was barely inside when a solid hummock crushed against 

 the opening, forming a great barrier between the vessel and the 

 outer moving pack. Had it struck there a few minutes earlier the 

 vessel would have been severely injured by the "nip," but as it was 



