THE PACIFIC OCEAN, 259 



came calm, and we hoifted out the boats in purfuit of the '779- 



July. 



fea-horfes, which were in prodigious herds on every fide of v- — «— -* 

 us.' We killed ten of them, which were as many as we 

 could make ufe of for eating, or for converting into lamp 

 oil. We kept on with the wind, from the South Weft, 

 along the edge of the ice, which extended in a direction al- 

 raoft due Eaft and Weft, till four in the morning of the 25th, Sunday 25. 

 when obferving a clear fea beyond it, to the South Eaft, we 

 made fail that way, with a view of forcing through it. By 

 fix, we had cleared it, and continued the remainder of the 

 day running to the South Eaft, without any ice in fight. At 

 noon, our latitude, by obfervation, was 68" 38', longitude 

 1 89° 9', and the depth of water thirty fathoms. At mid- 

 night, we tacked, and flood to the Weftward, with a frefh 

 gale from the South ; and at ten in the forenoon of the 26th, Monday 26. 

 the ice again mewed itfelf, extending from North Weft to 

 South. It appeared loofe, and drifting, by the force of the 

 wind, to the Northward. At noon, our latitude, by obfer. 

 vation, was 68° North, longitude 188° 10' Eaft; and we had 

 foundings with twenty-eight fathoms. For the remaining 

 part of the day, and till noon of the 27th, we kept ftanding Tuefday 27. 

 backward and forward, in order to clear ourfelves of differ- 

 ent bodies of ice. At noon, we were in latitude, by obferva- 

 tion, 67° 47', longitude 188*. At two in the afternoon, we 

 faw the continent to the South by Eaft ; and at four, having 

 run, fince noon, with a South South Eaft wind to the South 

 Weft, we were furrounded by loofe mafTes of ice, with the 

 firm body of it in fight, ftretching in a North by Weft, and 

 a South by Eaft direction, as far as the eye could reach j be- 

 yond which we faw the coaft of Afia, bearing South, and 

 South by Eaft. 



L 1 2 As 



