428 A SMART GALE. [CHAP.VI. 



could judge from the disappearance of the 

 material used, was attended with tolerable suc- 

 cess. At midnight there was almost a calm, and 

 the whole body of ice began to set fast to the 

 south. However, on the 4th, the breeze revisited 

 us, and with more or less obstruction we went 

 on under the same sail. The ice now lay more 

 in streams than formerly ; and between these 

 there was so much water, as to induce the ice- 

 mate to suppose we had got to the edge of the 

 pack. That this was not the fact was subse- 

 quently proved by our being again slightly 

 hampered at noon, when by the latitude of 

 67° 47' N., it was evident that notwithstanding 

 the northern course which had been steered, 

 we had still crept to the southward. At 4 h p. m. 

 Green Island was clearly visible from S.E. to 

 E.S.E., considerably to the south of us, although 

 bearing north by the charts; a circumstance 

 easily accounted for, as it had only been seen by 

 the dead reckoning of one of our predecessors, 

 and marked down accordingly. Its true position; 

 is in latitude 60° 30' north, and longitude 

 67° 26' 20" west. 



As the sun declined, the weather cleared and 

 brought on a fresh breeze that shortly increased 

 to a smart gale ; and the ice being closer and 

 heavier than in the early part of the day, it became 

 requisite to shorten sail and close-reef the top- 



