CHAP, v.] COAST. 285 



wards evening a lane of water opened not far 

 from us towards the shore, which, however, soon 

 closed, and the night set in beautifully clear and 

 tranquil. 



At daylight of the 18th the coast line was dis- 

 tinctly traced from S.E. by E. \ E. to W. by N., 

 the nearest land abeam being about four or five 

 miles distant. The character of the country was 

 now shelving, with hills of moderate altitude ; on 

 the regular and apparently even summits of which 

 were isolated cones, and other steep and rounded 

 hills, totally covered with snow. Extending to 

 the eastward the appearances were similar ; only, 

 that over a point, and something to the south of 

 it, was a distant range of high mountainous land, 

 answering the description of that about Seahorse 

 Point, from which we were now not thirty miles 

 distant. We experienced, moreover, that pecu- 

 liarly keen cold against our faces, known by the 

 term of the " barber," which must have come 

 from the eastward, as the lane of water was all 

 but closed. At 7 h a. m. a slight rushing noise 

 was heard to seaward, and more faintly alongside. 

 The ice was then setting slowly to the westward, 

 and about ll h 10 m a.m. a second weak rush just 

 reached us, and the motion stopped. At 2 h 30 m 

 p. m. the ice began to set slowly to the eastward, 

 and from its closeness to the wall made a low 

 grinding noise. For the rest of the day it con- 



