RISK OF BEING CRUSHED. I'M) 



inshore ice, and the occupation of their places by 

 the still heavier ones from seaward, seemed at first 

 quite unaccountable, till the fact was established 

 that two thirds of it were actually ground and r 

 pressed up to the height of twenty feet, in a solid 

 mass against the unyielding rocks. What fatal 

 consequences, therefore, might not be appre- 

 hended if any untoward fracture of the pack 

 should unmoor us from our present bed ! A 

 small hole of water was all that was visible from 

 the mast-head, but happily that was off the 

 point to the eastward, and between the pack 

 and the shore there was yet a weak barrier of drift 

 and bay ice to fend off any serious concussion. 

 The drift had spread such a uniform carpet over 

 the entire surface of the ice, that it seemed like 

 one immense floe, A vast proportion of it had 

 evidently been drifted down from the north- 

 ward, and having wedged itself between the 

 western extremity of our pack and Frozen 

 Strait, was thus, in combination with the wind, 

 gradually forcing us out : situated as we were, 

 this was a consummation most devoutly to be 

 wished, for our return to the strait was clearly 

 impossible, even if the wind should veer to the 

 eastward ; and any change of place was ob- 

 viously better than a position immediately off an 

 iron-bound cape. 



And now again the annoyance returned which 



l 3 



