THE COMMANDER OF THE EXPEDITION. 19 



working a clear space about us, we occasionally made small 

 cracks in the floes, and succeeded in forcing our way a little 

 at a time, getting occasionally in open patches of water and 

 among loose ice, and making two or three miles before being 

 brought up again by solid ice. I had headed the boat to the 

 westward on losing our way in the ice, and I knew that every 

 foot we made in that direction was toward the open water. 

 The temperature was froui 30° to 32°, the rigging was covered 

 with rime, and the new ice was rapidly forming around us and 

 increasing in thickness. I did not dare to stop for a clearing 

 up of the fog, lest we should be firmly frozen in, and so kept 

 the boat under way with full steam pressure, grinding through 

 the ice where we could, ramming it wherever there was a 

 chance of success, and following every little lead to the west- 

 ward. 



" In all this I was guided by Mr. Dodge, the ice-pilot, whose 

 previous experience in the Arctic regions enabled him to give 

 me good advice, and upon whose judgment in this emergency 

 I relied, and handled the boat accordingly. The plan of keep- 

 ing to the westward proved a wise one, for at 8.30 A. M. we 

 were rewarded by coming into quite large spaces of open 

 water, and at nine A. M. were pleased to detect a little swell, 

 giving indications of an approach to the open sea beyond. 

 By ten A. M. we were quite clear of the pack after our twelve 

 hours of uneasiness, and with no more damage to our little 

 craft than a slight scratching and splintering of our strength- 

 ening plank, occasioned by the new ice through which we 

 forced daring the night. 



" I immediately headed the boat to the N. W. (true), N. E. 

 magnetic, and the fog clearing up by noon, we sighted at two 

 P. M. three islands on our starboard quarter, the Sabine Isl- 

 ands, marked on the chart as being in lat. 75° 28' N., long. 

 59° 55' W. At the same time made out the glaciers beyond 

 to the N. E., a large number of icebergs, and a curious looking 

 hill with two peaks, which no doubt was the Cape Walker 

 marked on the chart, or land in its immediate vicinity. Gen- 

 erally speaking, the chart is inaccurate to a great extent to 

 the northward of Cape Shackelton, the coast line, as we found 



