CHAP. V.] SERMON. 245 



day were tinged with a solemnity becoming the 

 precariousness of our condition ; and a sermon, 

 upon the appropriate text "It is the Lord : let 

 Him do what seemeth Him good," was listened 

 to with the most profound and serious attention. 

 At noon the high land was much nearer, and 

 we had now opened the deep bay, inlet, or strait, 

 mentioned before. The land there was very low, 

 not unlike the description of the coast to the 

 south of Evan's Inlet. The bluff, which had been 

 denominated the blue bluff, from the tinge always 

 seen on it, could now be made out perfectly clear, 

 and was not more than ten miles off, and the 

 distance of the nearest low land did not exceed 

 four miles. Soundings were found in seventy- 

 two fathoms, having a bottom of rock and sand. 

 Some of the gentlemen thought they saw the 

 track of a fox, which, if so, must have taken 

 more than common trouble to make so long a 

 journey, and would find itself but poorly requited 

 after all. As usual, in the afternoon, the ice 

 eased off a little astern, and, after afew concussions 

 underneath, began to set in a body to the north- 

 west. While this was in progress, there was 

 an evident disposition in the broken masses of 

 ice, under the stern, to rise up ; and as they 

 would undoubtedly have staved in the cabin 

 windows, if nothing worse, some thick planking 

 was nailed across them, which, with the dead 



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