June. 1858. ARCTIC HAIR-BREADTH ESCAPES. 107 



through the middle ice, in latitude 70 , he found part of a 

 steamer's topmast embedded in heavy ice ; he also saw the 

 moulded form of a ship's side, and thinks the latter must 

 have sunk ; the portion of the topmast visible was sawed off 

 and taken to England. In the following month, and three 

 degrees further South, the ' Resolute ' was picked up. Now 

 as Her Majesty's Ships ' Resolute ' and ' Intrepid ' were frozen 

 up close together when we abandoned them in May, 1854, I 

 conclude that the traces which Captain Deuchars discovered 

 were those of my old ship, the ' Intrepid.' About two or 

 three years ago Captain Deuchars lost his ship, the ' Princess 

 Charlotte,' in Melville Bay. It was a beautiful morning ; 

 they had almost reached the North Water, and were antici- 

 pating a very successful voyage ; the steward had just 

 reported breakfast ready, when Captain Deuchars, seeing 

 the floes closing together ahead of the ship, remained on 

 deck to see her pass safely between them ; but they closed 

 too quickly ; the vessel was almost through, when the points 

 of ice caught her sides abreast of the mizenmast, and passing 

 through, held the wreck up for a few minutes, barely long 

 enough for the crew to escape and save their boats. Poor 

 Deuchars thus suddenly lost not only his breakfast but his 

 ship ; within ten minutes her royal yards disappeared beneath 

 the surface. How closely danger besets the arctic cruiser, 

 yet how insidiously ; everything looks so bright, so calm, so 

 still, that it requires positive experience to convince one that 

 ice only a very few inches, perhaps only three or four inches, 

 above water, 1 perfectly level, and moving extremely slow, 

 could possibly endanger a strong vessel ! The ' Princess 

 Charlotte ' was a very fine, strong ship, and her captain one 

 of the most experienced arctic seamen : he now commands 

 the finest whaler in the fleet. 



1 Only about one-seventh of the whole thickness of sea ice is floated 

 above water. 



