72 PERILOUS ADVENTURE 



the party, having failed in every other mode 

 of preserving the direction of the ships, at- 

 tempted, as a last resource, to retrace their foot- 

 marks in the snow ; but this was found to be 

 equally impracticable, in consequence of the 

 pieces of ice over which they had passed hav- 

 ing changed their position, and of the occur- 

 rence of other tracks, such as those of bears 

 and seals, which at distances were mistaken for 

 their own. Thus circumstanced, they felt the 

 full extent of the danger to which they had 

 thoughtlessly exposed themselves — a danger of 

 no trifling magnitude, as it threatened to involve 

 the lives of the whole remaining party. Still, 

 endeavouring to preserve the direction in which 

 the ships had last been seen, they wandered 

 about, making a very circuitous course, which 

 was rendered still more indirect than it might 

 otherwise have been by the difficulty of getting 

 from one piece of ice to the other, and the 

 necessity of searching for the most convenient 

 places for that purpose. 



To travel over ragged pieces of ice, upon 

 which there were two feet of snow, and often 

 more, springing from one slippery piece to the 

 other, or, when the channels between them 

 were too wide for this purpose, ferrying them- 

 selves across upon detached fragments, was 



