186 ^^OYAGE AND DEATH OF FRANKLIN 



McClure describes some experiences of the breaking up of the ice July 24, 

 185 1, off Point Armstrong. 



"The wind, veering to the westward during the night," says he, "set large 

 bodies of ice into the water we occupied, which was rapidly filling. To prevent 

 being forced on shore, we were obliged, at 8 a. m. of the 25th, to run into the 

 pack, where we drifted, according to the tide, about a mile and a half from the 

 beach ; but, during the twenty-four hours, made about two miles and a half to 

 the northeast, from which, when taken with the quantity of drift-wood that 

 is thickly strewed along the beach, I am of opinion that on this side of the 

 strait there is a slight current to the northeast, while upon the opposite one it 

 sets to the southward, upon which there is scarcely any wood, and our progress, 

 while similarly situated, was in a southerij direction. We continued drifting 

 in the pack, without meeting any obstruction, until 10 a. m. of the ist of 

 August, v^^hen a sudden and most unexpected motion of the ice swept us with 

 much velocity to the northeast, toward a low point, off which were several 

 shoals, having many heavy pieces of grounded ice upon them, toward which we 

 were directly setting, decreasing the soundings from twenty-four to nine and 

 a half fathoms. Destruction was apparently not far distant, when, most oppor- 

 tunely, the ice eased a little, and, a fresh wind coming from the land, sail was 

 immediately made, which, assisted by warps, enabled the ship to be forced 

 ahead about two hundred yards, which shot us clear of the ice and the point 

 into sixteen and a half fathoms, in which water we rounded the shoals; the 

 ice then again closed, and the ship became fixed until the 14th of August, when 

 the fog, which since the previous day had been very dense, cleared, and dis- 

 closed open water about half a mile from the vessel, with the ice loose about 

 her." 



The difficulty of clearing away large masses of ice was, to some extent, 

 obviated by blasting. "Previously to quitting the floe," says McClure, "I was 

 desirous of trying what effect blasting would have upon such a mass. A jar 

 containing thirty-six pounds of powder was let down twelve feet into the 

 water near the center ; the average thickness was eleven feet, and its diameter 

 four hundred yards. The result was most satisfactory, rending it in every direc- 

 tion, so that with ease we could effect a passage through any part of it." 



McClure also tells of one of those dramatic meetings in the ice-fields that 

 often occur. Says he : 



"While walking near the ship, in conversation with the first lieutenant upon 

 the subject of digging a grave for a man who had just died, and discussing how 



