58 BARRIER LIMITS. [October, 



ordained that we should witness the effect of one of Na- 

 ture's sullen, certainly not silent, motions. 



The first notice we had of this action was a rushing 

 noise, caused by the displacement of the small stones at 

 the beach and the forcing slab over slab, to perhaps 

 twenty thicknesses. This merely broke the ice directly 

 in contact with the coast-line. But to seaward all was 

 confusion; slabs were turned over, forced erect, and 

 jumbled together with quiet but appalling grandeur, each 

 motion causing inquiry if that which you stood upon 

 might not instantly turn upon and annihilate you ! 



Nature seemed to have lined out its action, and deter- 

 mined "Thus far shalt thou come, and no further/' But 

 the exterior ice, enraged, as it were, that it could not 

 reach us, trembling as we might be supposed to be like 

 mice in a trap, vented its spleen on the barriers aground, 

 piling slab on slab until all was one chaotic confused 

 outline, but barring us within a clear radius of two hun- 

 dred yards from the shore astern of the ship, until at 

 length it became, by its own accumulation, grounded. 



This outer barrier I should imagine to be composed 

 of plates of bay-ice, varying from nine inches to a foot 

 in thickness, and even when grounded, raised above the 

 mean level about twelve feet, forming a natural ram- 

 part, including the 'Assistance' and 'Pioneer' within its 

 bounds, with a still smooth carpet up to the shore ! Not- 

 withstanding, all within was calm ; and this, our second 

 deliverance, seemed to warrant security; still, the con- 

 flicting roar of the outer ice, and the squeezing up to 

 oui- bows and no further, continued to harass us much, 

 as it kept all hands on the alert, and did not afford us 

 relief from anxiety night or day. 



