CHAP.V.] VIOLENT STRAINING. 243 



ment, accompanied with a splitting of part of the 

 lining. It was evident, therefore, that there was 

 considerable pressure existing about the larboard 

 quarter ; and, a few minutes before 8 h p. m., the 

 cause announced itself by a succession of loud 

 rushing noises, followed bv the rending of the ice 

 near us, and the squeezing of the ship. For two 

 hours more there was incessant motion of one kind 

 or other, bearing the ice hard against the larboard 

 side, particularly the quarter, and at midnight 

 the ship was straining much. 



February 25th. During a brief interval we 

 were relieved from anxiety by a general stillness, 

 but the same unwelcome sounds soon returned ; 

 the vast bodies pressed more closely together, 

 producing complaints from the larboard quarter. 

 When the sun rose the ship was carefully exa- 

 mined, but notwithstanding all the sound and 

 fury heard in the night, no marks of external 

 violence were discovered. Early in the forenoon 

 the ship began to set towards the S.S.E. As the 

 low land abreast could now be distinctly made 

 out, it seemed that we must have neared it ; the 

 blue bluff ahead bearing due south was dim 

 from the quantity of small snow which was 

 flying about, causing a penetrating cold that all 

 complained of. The wind kept to the north 

 with a moderate force, and the temperature was 

 33°— ; but the southern thermometer being 



r 2 



