292 ACCOUNT OF thj: arctic regions. 



tempting this object, we endured a heavy pressure 

 of the bay-ice, which shook the ship in an alarming 

 manner. The next day, we made a small advance; 

 and on the 22d, after a fatiguing effort in passing 

 through the midst of an aggregation of floes, against 

 the wind, we reached a channel which led us several 

 miles to the south-eastward. On tlie 23d, we lay 

 at rest together with four other ships. The day fol- 

 lowing, having sawn a place for the ship in a thin 

 floe, we forced forward between two large masses, 

 where bay ice unconsolidated had been compressed, 

 until it had become 10 or 12 feet thick. We were 

 assisted by about a hundred men from the accom- 

 panying ships, which followed close in our rear ; and 

 after applying all our mechanical powers during 

 eight or nine hours, we passed the strait of about a 

 furlong in length, and immediately the ice collaps- 

 ed and rivetted the ships of our companions to the 

 spot. As they declined our proffered assistance, 

 (which indeed, at this time, would have been quite 

 unavailing), we determined to improve the advantage 

 we had acquired, by proceeding to the utmost li- 

 mits of the opening. Accordingly, we advanced, 

 on various winding courses, amidst bay-ice and 

 fields, in narrow obscure passages, a distance of 

 several miles. We then discovered a continua- 

 tion of the navigation between two immense sheets 

 of ice ; but the channel was so narrow and in- 

 tricate, that, for the distance of near a mile, it did 

 not appear more than 10 to 20 yards in width. The 



