POLAR-ICE. — 'DRIFTING. 289 



got their provisions upon deck, considering the ship 

 in great danger. 



On the 9th, they were in latitude 77° 38' N. 

 The intensity of the pressure was not diminished. 

 The Volunteer lay beset three miles off, under a 

 like dangerous pressure. On the 10th, the Dundee 

 and Volunteer began to separate, though the ice 

 continued close, and the ships were firmly beset. 



In my Father's journal of the 12th, appear the 

 following remarks : " iV. B — I cannot, from the 

 top-gallant-mast-head, see over the flat of ice to the 

 north-east, into which the ship is frozen : and yet 

 in fifty hours it has revolved from the south-south- 

 west, westerly to north, and carried the ship with a 

 semicircular motion 15 or 20 leagues : On the 10th 

 instant, we were within a mile and a-half of the 

 land, whereas our distance is now 10 leagues, and 

 our advance to the northward even greater. The 

 Volunteer has drifted out of sight in the south-west 

 quarter." 



On the 15th, after labouring eight and forty hours 

 without rest, they escaped into a place of safety. 



On the 17th of June 1813, I observed a strange 

 commotion among the Greenland ice, without being 

 able to discover any cause at all comparable with 

 the effect. The wind had blown a fresh gale, but 

 was now moderate ; the sea was smooth, and the si- 

 tuation of the ice was remote from any swells. The 

 latitude was 78°10'N., longitude 3°10'E. We 



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