184 THE VOYAGE OF THE JE ANNETTE. 



twenty-one fathoms (soft bottom). Sighted land on 

 the same general bearings of October 29th. 



Noveraber 21th, Thursday. — The wind went to S. 

 S. E., and blew all day very hard, its velocity ranging 

 from twenty-five to forty miles an hour. The squalls 

 were very heavy, and though we moved only about 

 half a length astern (to leeward, where we brought 

 up against young ice), the ship shook as if her spars 

 were coming out of her. At midnight the gale con- 

 tinued in full blast. The lead line showed a drift to 

 the N. W. Evidently all the ice is drifting the same 

 way, for the shores of our bay do not seem to contract 

 much, and so I suppose there must be some large water 

 space to the N. W. into which all this ice is drifting. 

 If it brings up anywhere before a N. W. wind can stop 

 its way the pressure down here will be tremendous, and 

 our open bay will shut up like magic, in which case we 

 must prepare for more anxiety. 



Since being beset to the present time, though we 

 have had difficulty in getting snow pure enough to 

 make drinking water, we have not been absolutely un- 

 able to do so. But now there is so little snow remain- 

 ing in our neighborhood that we are in a serious posi- 

 tion. Very little snow has fallen thus far, and we have 

 subsisted on drifts; and as we are away from drifts 

 now, and cannot reach any, we have been forced to 

 come down to scraping the floes around us. The snow 

 resulting is quite salt, and our tea and coffee to-day are 

 quite unfit to drink. It is not safe in our present con- 

 dition to send men away any distance, for if the ice 

 breaks up (and fissures are to be seen in all directions) 

 we might go adrift again and have more than we could 

 do perhaps to get the men back. Took the tempera- 

 ture of a small lane of water alongside at midnight and 

 found it 27°. 



