POLAR ICE. CHANGES I'N ITS SITUATION. 273 



while, are drifted off to the westward with the 

 ice, and cannot recover their easting ; for they are 

 encompassed with a large quantity of ice, and 

 have a greater distance to go than when they first 

 entered, and on a course precisely in opposition to 

 the direction of the most prevailing winds. Hence 

 it appears, that it would be economical and bene- 

 ficial to sail so late, as not to reach the country 

 before the middle of May, or to persevere on the 

 sealing stations until that time. There are, how- 

 ever, some weighty objections to this method. Open 

 seasons occasionally occur, and great progress may 

 sometimes be made in the fishery before that time. 

 Also, although the majority of the whalers do not 

 commonly succeed in passing the barrier in close 

 seasons before a certain period, yet some individu- 

 als, by a superior exertion, perseverance, ability, or 

 good fortune, accomplish the end considerably be- 

 fore the rest, and thereby gain a superiority in the 

 fishery, not to be attained by later arrivals. A 

 week or fortnight's solitary fishing, under these 

 circumstances, has frequently gained half a cargo, 

 — an advantage of the most interesting importance, 

 in a voyage of such limited duration. 



The change which takes place in the ice amidst 

 which the whale-fisher pursues his object, is, to- 

 wards the close of the season, indeed astonishing. 

 For, not only does it separate into its original in- 

 dividual portions, — not only does it retreat in a 



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