234 cook's voyage to july, 



selves surrounded by a compact field of ice, on every 

 side, except to the south south-west, we tacked, 

 and stood on in that direction, in order to get clear 

 of it. 



At noon of the 22d, our latitude, by observation, 

 was 69° 30', and longitude 187° 30'. In the after- 

 noon, we again came up with the ice, which extended 

 to the north-west and south-west, and obliged us to 

 continue our course to the southward, in order to 

 weather it. 



It may be remarked, that since the 8th of this 

 month, we had twice traversed this sea, in lines 

 nearly parallel with the run we had just now made ; 

 that in the first of those traverses, we were not able to 

 penetrate so far north, by eight or ten leagues, as in 

 the second ; and that in the last we had again found 

 an united body of ice, generally about five leagues to 

 the southward of its position in the preceding run. 

 As this proves that the large compact fields of ice 

 which we saw were moveable, or diminishing, at the 

 same time, it does not leave any well-founded expect- 

 ation of advancing much farther in the most favour- 

 able seasons. 



At seven in the evening, the weather being hazy, 

 and no ice in sight, we bore away to the westward ; 

 but, at half past eight the fog dispersing, we found 

 ourselves in the midst of loose ice, and close in with 

 the main body; we therefore stood upon a wind, 

 which was still easterly, and kept beating to wind- 

 ward during the night, in hopes of weathering the 

 loose pieces, which the freshness of the wind kept 

 driving down upon us in such quantities, that we 

 were in manifest danger of being blocked up by 

 them. 



In the morning of the 23d, the clear water, in 

 which we continued to stand to and fro, did not ex- 

 ceed a mile and a half, and was every instant lessen- 

 ing. At length, after using our utmost endeavours 

 to clear the loose ice, we were driven to the neces- 



