COOK IN THE ANTARCTIC 249 



the surface and hung perpendicularly above the ship. It towered higher than 

 the foreyard, presenting a spectacle that was at once grandly impressive but 

 terribly dangerous, for if it fell over upon the Investigator she would be crushed 

 to atoms. For a few moments the suspense was awful, till the weight of the 

 floe broke away a mass from the great bulk, and it rolled back with a tre- 

 mendous roar and rending and, with some fearful heaves, resumed its former 

 position. But no longer could it withstand the pressure, and it was hurried 

 forward with the rest of the floe, grinding along the bottom of the shoal. 



"The pack having set in towards the shore, the only hopes of safety lay 

 in keeping with the ice, for if the Investigator was pushed ashore by it there 

 would be little chance of her ever floating again. She was consequently made 

 fast again and carried along, though with a tremendous strain on her stern and 

 rudder. It was discovered that the latter was damaged, but there was no pos- 

 sibility of unshipping it for repairs while the ice was moving. Towards the af- 

 ternoon the wind having dropped, the drift became less, and for five hours the 

 rudder received attention. 



"Scarcely had it been replaced when once more the ice began to move, and 

 the crew saw that they were being forced directly upon a large piece of the 

 broken floe which had grounded. Feeling certain that if the ship were caught 

 between the grounded mass and the moving floe nothing could save her from 

 being crushed to pieces, a desperate effort was made to remove the great mass. 

 The chief gunner, provided with a big canister of powder, went on to the 

 ice and' struggled over the rugged surface until he reached the stationary 

 mass. He intended to lower the canister under the mass before exploding it, 

 but the ice was too closely packed around it to permit of this being done. There 

 was no time to consider any other plan, so he fixed the blast in a cavity and, 

 firing the fuse, scrambled back to the ship. 



"The cliarge exploded just as the pressure of the floe was beginning to 

 tell, and the result was apparently valueless. The Investigator by this time was 

 within a few yards of the great mass, and there seemed to be no hope of escap- 

 ing from the crush. Every one on deck was in a state of anxious suspense, 

 waiting for what was evidently the crisis of their fate. 



"Most fortunately the ship went stem-on, as sailors term it, and the pres- 

 sure was directed along her whole length instead of along her sides. Every 

 plank seemed to feel the shock, and the beams groaned as the pressure in- 

 creased. The masts trembled, and crackling sounds came from the bulwarks 

 as she strained under the tension. Momentarily the men expected that she 



