CHAP. VI.] SAWING AWAY THE ICE. 3S5 



teen feet, they got through thirty feet ; whilst, 

 on the other side of the ship, another party was 

 busy in clearing away the ice from the crack 

 leading athwart the forefoot to the extremity of 

 the floe in that direction. In the meantime the 

 ship remained precisely in the same position. 

 The observations made us a few miles to the 

 north and west, the latitude being 63° 17' N., 

 and longitude 74° 39' W. Finding the ice be- 

 came thicker as the work approached the ship, it 

 was necessary to have a longer saw ; accordingly, 

 the armourer, by means of the forge, formed two 

 into one, thirty feet long, which, how T ever, from 

 its comparative thinness, w r e were apprehensive 

 would not be strong enough. No change took 

 place throughout the night, but the ice remained 

 so packed, that, had the season been farther 

 advanced, the whole would most certainly have 

 been connected into one immense body. As it 

 w r as, the temperature did not sink below freezing 

 point, though it arrived at it, as indeed it had 

 done for some time, within a degree or two. 



On July 4th the large saw was put into 

 motion, and answered remarkably well, its own 

 weight being sufficient to carry it down without 

 any other incumbrance. With it, therefore, we 

 made better progress, though the ice was often 

 as much as twenty feet thick, and by noon, had 

 cut to a main crack, the least pressure against 



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