OKUISE OF THE STBAMEK GOKWIN. 



23 



TEE ICE. 



Among tbe ice terms in use by whalemen and those frequenting the Arctic on this side of the 

 continent the following, with their significations, are the most common : 



Ice is calving when small pieces break off from the 

 bottom aud rise to the surface of the water. 



A lead is a strip of navigable water opening into the 

 pack. 



A pocket IS a short opening into the ice and terminating 

 against solid or thick ice. This is also sometimes termed 

 a hlind had. 



Uummocky ice is rough, uneven ice. 



Porridge ice is small, finely gronud-up ice. 



Young porridge is ice just forming. 



Waking is the following of another vessel through leads 

 and slack ice. 



Bucking is backing off aud ramming ice in order to 

 break a way through it. 



Tracking is following along the edge of the ice-pack. 



A floe is a large piece of floating ice. 



A field is a large body of ice that can be seen around. 



Landfloe is ice frozen fast to the shore. 



Packed ice is small pieces closed together and held by 

 the pressure of wind and currents. 



Ice-blink is a peculiar pale yellow reflection on the 

 sky and indicates tbe presence of ice at a distance. 



The ice-pack is that large body of solid ice extending 

 across the whole sea and beyond which it is impossible 

 to advance. 



Slack ice is detached so that it can be worked through. 

 Ice is said to be slacking when it begins to open so as to 

 be navigable. 



Ice is said to be nipping wheu it begins to close by 

 reason of the action of Windsor currents so as to prevent 

 the passage of a vessel. 



The experience of many years in the Arctic has demonstrated the fact that no rules whatever 

 can be given as to the time of the breaking up of the ice. The severity of the winter, the time at 

 which spring weather opens, and the beginning of southerly winds that break up the ice, all have 

 their influence in governing this time. Vessels have been able to enter St. Michael's as early as 

 May 21 ; this year we found ice to the southward of St. Matthew's on June 2, and some days 

 later still in the season vessels have been stopped by it between the seal islands and Nunivak. 

 The southern limit of the ice is almost entirely dependent on the severity of the winter. Heavy 

 southerly winds and swell will break up the ice, and if followed by northerly winds it will open 

 out aud the waters become navigable. When once broken up, if the weather is mild, it will not 

 cement again if nipping, and consequently will open more readily to light winds. In consequence 

 of the time of the breaking up of the ice being so variable, no definite time for the cutter to be in 

 the Bering Sea can be given, but she should be there in season to enter the Arctic with the fleet 

 or otherwise her mission will be rendered futile. 



Northeast winds tend to drive the ice off the American shore and westerly winds off the 

 Siberian side. With these few exceptions little can be said of ice conditions. 



In clear weather the ice-blink indicates the presence of ice and it may be seen a great distance, 

 but in thick, foggy weather approach to the pack must be made with great caution. Its proximity 

 is usually indicated by the slack, and when this once begins to be seen about the vessel it may be 

 judged that a large body is not far distant. As the pack is neared one sees only ice as far as the 

 eye can reach. It rises from ten to twenty-five feet above the surface of the water, in ail manner 

 of fantastic forms and shapes, presents all colors of blue, from an indigo to an almost white, and 

 glistens in the sun's oblique rays with a splendor blinding to the naked eye. It is a well-known 

 fact that the depth of water and surrounding features of this ocean render the formation of 

 gigantic icebergs an impossibility and no mountains of ice add the sublimity and terror of their 

 presence to the pack, yet there is in this harmless-looking body that which man can never conquer. 

 Inside its solid front no vessel can penetrate and once caught within its grasp it is almost a 

 miracle that she ever escapes. No ship can be built that will stand its crushing force, and no ram 

 be made so powerful as to break its way through it. It is only when the elements combine against 

 it that man can invade its domain. 



When a pack is reached it usually becomes necessary to track along its edge to find a lead. 

 Whoever is piloting the ship takes his place at tlie masthead, and with glass in hand seeks for a 

 favorable opening. Oftentimes days are spent working up and down along the ice without clear 

 water presenting itself, and when it does extreme caution must be used in entering the lead. It is 

 here that the judgment and experience of the ice pilot become a necessity. The weather, currents, 

 appearance of the ice, probable winds, and a dozen other things that would never enter the 

 mind of the novice, are to be taken into consideration before the vessel's head is turned iuto tlie 



