44 CREW EXERCISED AT SMALL ARMS. 



As the day advanced the body of ice to wind- 

 ward was not found, as had been expected, to 

 have undergone any favourable alteration ; but 

 it was consoling to find by the bearings of the 

 land that we had rather gained than lost ground 

 by making fast to the berg, and it was evident 

 that, for the present, nothing better could be 

 done than to remain where we were. In the 

 mean time, as there was nothing to be appre- 

 hended for the safety of the ship, which lay 

 extremely easy under the lee, the crew, for 

 occupation, were exercised at small arms ; and, 

 considering that many of them had never had a 

 musket in their hands before, they acquitted 

 themselves very creditably. By the bearings of 

 a remarkable hill, N. 94° E., it was clear that 

 although we were certainly going slowly to the 

 northward and westward, yet we were setting 

 at the same time towards the shore. At 4 h p. m., 

 however, there was an apparent re-action in the 

 inshore body of ice, which now began to set 

 about S. S. E., and, to avoid being hemmed in, 

 it became necessary to cast off from the berg. 

 Having done so, we went under as easy sail as 

 the ice would allow between south and west ; 

 and, though we had now the mortification to 

 behold, from the mast-head, a continuous pack, 

 extending from what we took to be Broken Point 

 to south-west, yet, by carefully watching such 



