FAST IN THE ICE. 171 



could not clear it, and then they relieved their minds 

 by fights among themselves. 



This movement of the ice begins to make me believe 

 it is a tidal action of some kind, although it flows in 

 but one way — to the westward. Fearing another rush 

 during the night, I ordered everybody to hold himself 

 in readiness for immediate action, sleeping myself with 

 my clothes on and knapsack handy in case of accident. 

 As is usual nearly every day we had light, drifting 

 snow. 



November 12ih, Wednesday. — At 4.15 a. m. Mr. New- 

 comb, who sat up until this hour, roused me with the 

 information that the ice was again in motion. Rushed 

 out on deck and found that we were in for a lively time. 

 The pressure was greater than ever before in our ex- 

 perience. To the ice rushing and growling alongside 

 of us I did not pay much attention, for though our floe 

 humped badly, and cracked and split in all directions, 

 there was not much obstruction to the flow of ice. But 

 the break in the floe across the bows gave me serious 

 concern, for I saw the piled-up ice advancing toward us 

 seemingly as fast as a man could walk. Abandoning 

 the line of union which it yesterday tried to make 

 diagonally across the bow to the flowing stream on the 

 port quarter, it bore down directly upon us. At each 

 grind of the advancing mass it piled up floebergs in 

 front of it, and the ship shook and trembled like a reed. 

 From my post on top of the deck-house the view was 

 magnificent though awful. I fully expected we should 

 be swept away into the grinding stream, and as the ap- 

 proaching ice made one more startling advance than 

 usual, I grasped the mainstay to keep ray place when 

 the final crash should come. All hands had been called 

 and stood ready, although there was really nothing to 



