1858.] 



DRIVEN AGROUND. 



57 



new berth, doing all the work herself, as if it had been 

 un every-day evolution ! Not an inch was there to spare. 

 She had, it is true, imbedded her sternpost, and risen 

 abaft about fifteen inches : the piling ice had ceased at 

 her bow, and the cable was taut. But who shall de- 

 scribe the chaos without ? Horrible ! worse than the old 

 nightmare floe which had been blown off. Such was 



our position ; and the ' Pioneer' also grounded when the 

 movement ceased, and left us to view the effects of the 

 external forces from which we had escaped. 



Our position before this catastrophe seemed to promise 

 not only comfort, but also security. Both within, as 

 well as without, a fine glassy level sheet of nine-inch ice 

 had formed up to the very beach, causing us to con- 

 gratulate ourselves on the smooth travelling it would af- 

 ford to our spring parties. Over this extensive white 

 sheet but a few masses (apparently berg pieces) of ice 

 here and there dotted the surface, and afforded safe bar- 

 riers, as we had anticipated, from any pressure from with- 

 out. When ice has once formed to such thickness, it is 

 seldom that we notice more than partial disruption, and 

 that in lines or " nips. But in the present case it \v;is 



