476 WHALE-FISHEIIY. 



on account of the slow and leewardly motion of the 

 ship, an attempt to ply to windward entirely failed. 

 Meeting shortly with an impervious mass of ice, 

 lying directly across our track, which, on account of 

 the direction of the wind, and the return of the fog, 

 we could neither weather, nor discover a passage 

 through, — we moored, along with the John, to a 

 detached piece of ice. The attention of the carpen- 

 ters in caulking the ceiling of the ship, together 

 with the advantage derived from the fothering sails, 

 had now produced an effect so considerable, that, on 

 Sunday, the 7th of July, the original leakage was 

 found to be reduced nearly four-fifths ! During an 

 hour, in which we were engaged in the performance 

 of Divine Service, the pumps were allowed to 

 *' stand;" 2^ feet of water , which, in this interval, 

 flowed into the hold, was pumped out in twenty 

 minutes. 



The weather having cleared, (on Sunday even- 

 ing,) a passage to the eastward was discovered among 

 the floes. An easterly wind, however, prevailing, 

 we were unable to make any progress, until the 

 John took us in tow. After plying 3 or 4 miles to 

 windward, we entered a narrow channel, leading to 

 a roomy situation, in a south-easterly direction. 

 Though a quantity of drift-ice lay in this channel, 

 and, in one instance, the John had occasion to force 

 a passage for the Esk, yet we passed through the 

 midst of it without striking a single piece of ice. 



