187G ICE-WALL. 115 



There being no good protection attainable unless 

 we retraced our steps to Floeberg Beach, twelve miles 

 distant, I secured the ship in a small indentation of the 

 ice-foot or ice-wall. Our position was close to the 

 southward of a number of floebergs which had grounded 

 in a line with the shore outside of the ice-wall. These 

 I hoped would afford us some slight protection from 

 the northward ; but in the direction of Cape Union, 

 the shore being steeper, there was nothing to keep the 

 Polar pack away from the perpendicular face of the ice- 

 wall, which was polished and horizontally striated by 

 the grinding of floating ice during prior seasons. 



As we steamed along the coast I noticed that only 

 those points of land which were exposed towards the 

 north bore traces of recent pressure ; and generally 

 speaking, there were few signs of the pack having nipped 

 against the shore — that is, with the enormous force 

 necessary to cast up huge masses of ice and deposit them 

 on the top of the ice- wall, which varied in height to 

 between thirty and forty feet ; the depth of water along- 

 side was from five to seven fathoms, and permitted 

 the ship to run alongside it without any fear of touching 

 the ground. 



During the afternoon the pack drifted with the flood- 

 tide slowly towards the south, always nipping against 

 the ice- wall close to the southward of us, but leaving a 

 narrow water- space near the ship. 



The ice in the offing consisted of one large compact 

 floe — that near the shore, alone, being broken up and 

 loose, but in no way navigable. 



About 8 p.m., with the commencement of the ebb- 

 tide, a small pool of water formed on the southern side 



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