Chap. X.] PACK ICE. 21 5 



Sail was shortened, and we glided slowly on. A line of mist, 

 contrasting strongly with the dark water, seemed in the un- 

 certain light to be creeping over the surface of the sea towards 

 us ; in reality we were approaching it. Its edge was most 

 sharply defined. We passed it, and immediately the dark 

 water showed a sprinkling over of white dots, which looked as 

 if they had been snow-flakes, which for some reason had fallen 

 on the water without melting. These white specks became 

 larger and larger, and closer together, and all at once I realized 

 that we were amongst the ice. The thin layer of mist was 

 hanging over its edge. 



The pieces increased rapidly in size and thickness, as we 

 went farther and farther ahead, until, in a very few minutes, we 

 were forcing our way through a sort of soup-like looking fluid, 

 full of large pieces of ice. The pieces were as much as six feet 

 long, and three or four broad, all flat slabs, and standing six 

 inches or so out of the water. The pieces bumped and grated 

 against the ship's side, and the water-line being near the level 

 of the officers' heads, as they lay in their berths asleep, several 

 came up on deck to see what had happened. We soon steered 

 out of the edge of the pack again. 



Next morning I viewed the ice from the foretop, and made 

 a sketch of its appearance. All along the horizon, southwards, 

 was a white line of ice, broken here and there by the outlines 

 of bergs fiist in the pack at various distances from the ship ; 

 some partly beyond the horizon, and with only their tops 

 showing ; others at the outer edge of the vast expanse of ice ; 

 others at all intermediate positions. 



The field of ice appeared continuous, except just near its 

 edge, where meandering opening-s, like rivers, led into it, some- 

 times for a mile or so. The edge of the pack was very irregular, 

 projecting as it were in capes and promontories, with bays 

 between, as on a broken coast-line. The fields of ice were 

 made up of large fragments closely packed together. The 

 pieces were not, however, much tilted or heaped up upon one 

 another, as commonly occurs in packs. 



Off the edge of the pack, extended serpentine bands of float- 

 ing ice which drifted before the wind ; they are termed 

 "stream ice." We dredged within one of the streams. All 

 the packs which we saw were similar to the one described. 



Sometimes, the smaller floating masses of ice at the edge of 

 the pack were covered with fresh snow. The parts of them 

 projecting above water were frequently of very fantastic shapes. 

 Some were like the antlers of deer, others like two pairs of 

 antlers with three or four upstanding and branching horns, all 

 borne aloft by irregularly shaped submerged floats. The soft 



