310 ACCOUNT OF THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 



among dangerous ice, we entered an opening so con- 

 siderable, that we could not discover its extent from 

 the top-mast-head. We now flattered ourselves 

 that our exertions were about to be rewarded, by 

 having an immediate opportunity of commencing 

 the fishery. Our hopes, however, were soon frustra 

 ted ; the open space we now navigated did not pre- 

 sent us with a single whale, and though of an ex- 

 tent of 400 or 500 square miles, was, within three 

 days, contracted to an area of a few acres. 



This circumstance, so unexpected, at the same 

 time so uncommon, would have had a tendency to 

 paralize our efforts, had not a swell, apparently 

 from the north, and the appearance of water in 

 that direction by the sky, encouraged us to per- 

 severe. 



On the 13th, therefore, we again pushed forward 

 into a continuous sheet of ice ; being a combina- 

 tion of bay-ice with scattered pieces of drift-ice. 

 During five days we persevered in the most labo- 

 rious exertions, in towing, boring, warping * and 

 mill-dolling f ; frequently dragging heavy boats 



* Warping is the process of moving a ship by means of 

 ropes, called warps, which being attached to some distant fixed 

 object, a large piece of ice, for instance, admit of the ship's be- 

 ing drawn forward, by the application to the ropes of the diffe- 

 rent mechanical powers on board. 



t Mill-doll'mg, consists in breaking a passage through thin 

 ice, for a ship, by a sort of ram, let fall from the bowsprit ; or 



