187G TIDE IN ROBESON CHANNEL. 110 



packed up the very few private articles we could pos- 

 sibly carry with us if the ship were broken up by the 

 ice. When constantly facing danger such events are 

 taken as a matter of course.' 



At low- water during the afternoon, the wind 

 having lulled considerably, the pack commenced to 

 set to the southward, but except within a distance of 

 about fifty yards ahead and astern of the ship no water 

 was to be seen anywhere. The pack nipping against 

 the ice-wall marked its course by deep horizontal 

 scratches, and although it scraped its way past the 

 ship, owing to the protection afforded by the small 

 haven, she was in no way damaged. 



Tidal observations obtained during the evening- 

 gave the time of high-water at 9.55 p.m. We had 

 therefore already caught up the Eobeson Channel tide, 

 which is an hour and a quarter later than that at 

 Floeberg Beach. With the ebb-tide the pack drifted 

 towards the north. 



Soon after low-water on the morning of the 2nd 

 the in-shore ice commenced moving towards the south, 

 while the outer pack continued its course to the north- 

 east with a westerly wind, from which the in-shore ice 

 was protected by the high cliffs. At 6.30 a.m a 

 decided off-shore movement occurring in the ice, steam 

 was raised, but owing to an eddy current carrying the 

 rudder under the bottom of the ship, we experienced 

 so much trouble and delay in shipping it that we were 

 unable to start for a space of two hours. We then 

 steamed to abreast of Cape Union, but by that time it 

 was high- water, and with the change in the tidal 

 current the channel commenced to close. I then ran 



