CHAP. V.] LANE AHEAD. 2Q«5 



whence it had come. Sunday afternoon, the 

 breeze veered a little to the south ; and as we 

 set westward, the seaward body of ice drew off, 

 so as to leave a perceptible channel within us. 

 In the evening the weather became suddenly 

 overcast ; and the wind drawing round to the 

 south, came first in gusts, then in heavy squalls, 

 which, with the intelligence that a lane had opened 

 ahead, made me apprehensive of some sudden 

 change. The boats and stores, therefore, on either 

 floe were frequently visited, and scouts were sent 

 to examine the cracks that on other occasions had 

 been known to open. At this time, however, 

 they were closed. It may be here mentioned, 

 that as soon as the gale had fairly set in the 

 barometer began to rise very rapidly, that is to 

 say, with a southerly ivind, in the same way that 

 it had often previously done with a northerly one. 

 It varied in the ascending scale considerably in 

 a few hours, and still continued to rise; never- 

 theless, the gale blew with much violence 

 througho^ 1 * the night, at the same time lowering 

 the temperature. 



March 28th. The ship cracked so as to induce 

 an idea that she was easing down ; but, in all 

 probability, it was merely the effect of the gale 

 coming full on her uplifted bulk, and causing her 

 to shake at every squall. However, at break of 

 day our inclination was precisely the same, though 



u 4 



