68 CHANGE OF POSITION. 



as to have actually commenced drawing his boats 

 over the ice towards the open water, in the ex- 

 pectation of being able to proceed in them to 

 a port in Spitzbergen, where he knew he should 

 find some Dutch whalers at anchor. Our hopes 

 of being able to effect anything of consequence 

 in a north-eastern direction were, therefore, con- 

 siderably diminished, and setting aside the appear- 

 ances from our mast-head, we were aware, from 

 reading the narratives of the old voyagers, that 

 there never had been so material an alteration 

 in the position of the ice in this part as to pro- 

 mise any great advance toward the attainment 

 of the object we had in view. It was, however, 

 our duty to make the attempt, and ever san- 

 guine of success whilst the ice admitted of the 

 smallest progress, we thought we might be more 

 fortunate than those who had preceded us. 



As the tide changed, the pieces of ice imme- 

 diately around us began to separate, and some 

 of them to twist round with a loud grinding 

 noise, urging the vessels, which were less than a 

 mile from the land, still nearer and nearer to 

 the beach. Captain Buchan, seeing the imminent 

 risk to which this movement exposed the expedi- 

 tion, left nothing untried that seemed likely to 

 increase our distance from the shore ; and suc- 

 ceeded in fastening his lines to a large piece 



