370 ICE MORE OPEN. [CHAP.Vr. 



be disturbed until we were afloat, for the ship 

 still inclined over as before, and it might be 

 that, at intervals, a strain was thrown on that 

 particular part. 



The east end of Charles Island bore S.W., 

 and the weather was dark and gloomy, with 

 a temperature of 31° -f . The ice, this after- 

 noon, was more detached and open than it 

 had been during the season ; and had the 

 ship been freed of her bonds, there was space 

 enough to have moved two or three miles to 

 the westward. But, as it was uncertain when 

 that consummation so devoutly wished w T ould 

 take place, or what might be her state when 

 afloat, as it was possible that she might be 

 near the land, or in a situation requiring to 

 be immediately worked, I thought it right to 

 make such preparations for steering her, as the 

 urgency of the occasion might demand. From 

 what had been already seen, there were reasons 

 for apprehending an insuperable difficulty in 

 shipping the rudder ; and, indeed, if, as was 

 conjectured, the split stern-post projected three 

 or four feet at right angles to the keel, to say 

 nothing of the doubling forced up, it seemed 

 evident, that even if the old rudder could by any 

 management be fixed in its place, it would serve 

 only for an additional purchase to weaken the 

 already broken parts thereabouts. To provide 

 against a contingency so serious as well as proba- 



