A MAIN SEA, OR DEEP OPENING, CONJECTURED. 421 



opened — how or from what cause we knew not — 

 outside, between the grounded ice and the main 

 body; and preparations were already making for 

 a start at high water, when the wind suddenly 

 chopped round from S. E. to N. W., and fixed 

 us once more to the spot. We crept sullenly 

 under our sorry places of shelter, and, without 

 uttering more than a monosyllabic answer to as 

 short a question, prepared to pass, as we best 

 could, the tedium of another restless night. 



At 5 h 30 m p. m., when the tide was at full, the 

 ice was wedged as before to the shore, and not 

 ten yards of open water could be seen in any di- 

 rection ; thermometer 42°. About 9 p. m. there 

 was a short lull, the ominous stillness of which 

 was soon disturbed by an E. S. E. wind, that 

 shortly increased to a smart gale; and it is 

 worthy of remark, that the ice, which had re- 

 mained unmoved by the wind from S., S. W., 

 W., and N. E., now, as if acted on by magic, 

 began to drift W. N. W. with great rapidity. I 

 was convinced, therefore, that there must be, in 

 that particular bearing, either a main sea or a 

 very deep opening, to allow the escape of so 

 great a portion of the immense extent of ice 

 before us; for, had the dispersion continued at its 

 then rate, a very few hours would have sufficed 

 to clear the channel entirely. Late though it was 

 in the season, this sudden revolution animated 



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