' 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



549 



could not be attained j and were 

 the regress not aided by natural 

 facilitie?, every attempt to prose- 

 cute the whale-fishery with effect 

 would be attended with imminent 

 danger ; I may say, with almost 

 certain destruction. 



On the Properties, peculiar Move- 

 ments, and Drifting of the Ice. 



1. The ice always has a ten- 

 dency to separate during calms. 

 This property holds both with 

 regard to field and drift ice, and 

 seems to arise from a repelling 

 tendency between the individual 

 masses. Hence it is, that when 

 the heavy ice is released from its 

 confinement by the dissolution of 

 the intruding bay ice, a calm ge- 

 nerally spreads its pieces abroad, 

 and allows a free passage for ships, 

 Avhich before could not be urged 

 forward with all the assistance to 

 be derived from the wind, com- 

 bined with every effort of art. 

 From the same cause it is, that 

 ice, which with strong winds is 

 formed into compact streams or 

 patches, and allows a safe and 

 commodious passage amidst these 

 large aggregations, — on the oc- 

 cuirence of one or two days of 

 calm weather, will be disseminated 

 into every opening, and seem to 

 fill every space, allowing only a 

 troublesome and sinuous naviga- 

 tion. In this case, the dispersion 

 is so general that scarcely any two 

 pieces can be said to touch eacli 

 other. 



Openings in packs, and amidst 

 fields, frequently break out or 

 disappear without any apparent 

 cause. It is often of importance 

 to the fisher to determine whether 

 any space be in the course of di- 



minishing or enlarging. The 

 freezing of the water generally 

 affords an intimation of its coarc- 

 ting, as it rarely occurs on the 

 extension of the bounding ice. 

 The birds likewise instinctively 

 leave the closing spaces, and fly in 

 search of such as ai'e in the course 

 of opening. 



2. The amazing changes which 

 take place in the most compact 

 ice, are often unaccountable. 

 They astonish even those who are 

 accustomed to their occurrence. 

 Thus, ships immovably fixed with 

 regard to the ice, have been known 

 to perform a complete revolution 

 in a few hours ; and two ships 

 beset a few furlongs apart, within 

 the most compact pack, have some- 

 times been separated to the dis- 

 tance of several leagues within the 

 space of two or three days, not- 

 withstanding the apparent conti- 

 nuity of the pack remaining un- 

 broken ! 



On the 7th of May 1798, the 

 Dundee of London, (then com- 

 manded by my father,) while 

 forcing to the northward on the 

 most eligible course, was suddenly 

 stopped by a shift of wind, and 

 enveloped by the ice at a very short 

 distance from the land. The Vo- 

 lunteer of Whitby, and three other 

 sl)ips, were likewise arrested a 

 little way from the Dundee. Du- 

 ring the day, three Russian con- 

 victs visited them, coming over 

 the ice from the nearest shore : 

 but as none of the crew could 

 speak their language, they were 

 prevented from deriving any in- 

 formation from them. 



The next day, a heavy gale of 

 wind prevailed from the north- 

 west } the frost was intense, and 

 much snow fell. The pressure of 



the 



