676 THE VOYAGE OF THE JE ANNETTE. 



to turn around, and saw that it might be whirled into a 

 kind of corner against the fast ice, where, if it remained 

 long enough, a landing might be effected. " Stand by," 

 was the order now, and with sled ropes in hand we 

 waited the trying moment. Soon our cake caught and 

 held. " Now is the time, Chipp! " I shouted, and away 

 we went. 



One sled got over on the rough ice-foot all right ; a 

 second nearly fell overboard ; the third did fall over- 

 board, dragging in Cole ; and a piece of ice had to be 

 dragged in by sheer force to bridge for the fourth. 

 When I started the St. Michael's sleds, they seemed to 

 stick somewhere. Watching our cake closely, I saw 

 signs of its giving way. " Away with the boats ! " — but 

 how ? Nindemann sang out, that he thought we could 

 float the boats below, and haul them over. No sooner 

 said than done, and down they went into the water. 

 The men were hurried from the sleds to the boats, and 

 I saw the first cutter just beginning to haul out, when 

 away swept our ice-cake, carrying Melville, Iversen, 

 Aneguin, and myself, with six dogs. Wilson had car- 

 ried one load of clogs over in the dingy, but he could 

 not get back for the remainder. Chipp was on the ice- 

 foot with the boats, and I knew he could look out for 

 them, and I felt pretty certain we had saved everything 

 For ourselves, on the drifting ice-cake, I had some lit- 

 tle anxiety, but one corner of our cake fortunately soon 

 after drifted near a fast berg, and by making a flying 

 leap through the air, we escaped in safety. At last ! 

 But though standing still, we were not ashore. The 

 ice-foot extended out from the land, and was a con- 

 fused mass of piled up ice-blocks and ridges, — honey- 

 combed, cracked, and broken, — and presenting a 

 simply impassable road for travel with sleds. Glad 



