388 ANTARCTIC VOYAGE OB^ THE BELGICA. 



a matter of life or death to us the work went on cheeril}^ clay and 

 night, for a whole month. As we had only three saws we could not 

 all work together, so we divaded into two parties, one working by day, 

 the other by night. The method we employed was very simple. 

 Starting from the edge of our floe, A C, two lines, A B and C D, were 

 cut, then E F, and the triangle A E F was detached and pushed out of 

 the wa^^ Next the line G H was cut and the quadrilateral E C H G 

 removed; then E K, and another pol3'gon was free. Thus we got rid 

 of the ice piece by piece, and as each slab had to be pushed out the 

 channel already cut was open. 



The work was almost completed when a storm came upon us. The 

 Belgica was nipped between two large floes, and as the swell from the 

 ocean reached us from outside, these crushed and left the vessel alter- 

 nately with every wave. We had three days of anguish, but at last 

 the sea went down, and after some more labor, aided by a free use of 

 our tonite, the Belgica was finally delivered on February 14, 1809. 



We made rapid progress northward for a whole day; but then, on the 

 edge of the pack, our way was completely barred hy a number of small 

 floes packed close together. A long month's waiting followed, tossed 

 about all the time by the ocean swell, before we got a chance to escape 

 to the open sea, toward which the water sky to the northward had all 

 the time been showing us the way. 



The Belgica left the pack on March 14, and on the 28th we were 

 back in Punta Arenas. 



