UNSUCCESSFUL EFFORTS. 109 



This was the most northerly position reached 

 by the expedition during the voyage, and it 

 would have been a great gratification could we 

 have obtained an observation of the sun to de- 

 termine the exact latitude ; a measure which 

 was rendered still more desirable by a difference 

 of several miles which occurred in the reckoning 

 of the two ships. By that kept on board the 

 Dorothea the latitude was 80° 31/ N. ; while 

 that of the Trent was 80° 37' N., the mean 

 of which is 80° 34' N. 



We had not been long secured to the field 

 of ice before we had the mortification of find- 

 ing ourselves drifting fast to the southward, both 

 by the lead-line and by the bearings of the land ; 

 and the next day, though by warping we thought 

 we had gained several miles, our latitude was 

 less by nearly four leagues than it was when 

 we first made fast, viz. 80° 23' N. 



The 9th and 10th were passed in dragging the 

 vessels through the ice with ropes and ice- 

 anchors as before, but this tedious duty was 

 repaid with very ill success, for although we 

 left the ice far behind us, yet the current set 

 so fast to the southward that, in spite of the 

 labour of two long days, we lost three miles of 

 ground, and observed in latitude 80° 20' N. 

 It was this constant tendency of the water to 



