550 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1817. 



he ice was very 

 much, that their iron-tilier was 

 broken, the ship lifted above two 

 feet, and forced within a mile and 

 a half of the land. All the bay 

 ice was squeezed upon the top of 

 the heavy ice, and the wliole was 

 rendered so compact, that they 

 could not find a hole sufficient to 

 admit a lead, for the purpose of 

 ascertaining the depth of the 

 water. They got their provisions 

 upon deck, considering the ship 

 in great danger. 



On the 9th, they were in lati- 

 tude 77° 38' N. The intensity of 

 the pressure was not diminished. 

 The Volunteer lay beset three 

 miles off, tuider a like dangerous 

 pressure. 



In my Father's Journal of the 

 12th, appear the following re- 

 marks : " N. B. — I cannot, from 

 the top-gallant-mast-head, see 

 over the flat of ice to the north- 

 east, into which the sliip is frozen j 

 and yet in fif¥y hours it has re- 

 volved from the south-south west, 

 westerly to north, and carried the 

 ship with a semi -circular motion 

 15 or 20 leagues. On the 10th 

 instant we were within IJ miles 

 of the land, whereas our distance 

 is now 10 leagues, and our ad- 

 vance to tlie northward even 

 greater. The Volunteer has drifted 

 out of sight in the south-west 

 quarter." 



On the 15th, after labouring 

 eight and forty hours without 

 rest, they escaped into a place of 

 safety. 



3. When speaking of the for- 

 mation of fields, 1 had occasion to 

 remark, that the polar ice has a 

 constant tendency to drift to the 

 south-westward ; with regard to 

 which, it may be observed, that 



in situations neftr the western coast 

 of Spitzbergen, this tendency is 

 seldom observed, but rather the 

 contrary. This may probably re- 

 sult from the effects of the tide, 

 eddies, or peculiar pressures. Its 

 imiversal prevalence, however, at 

 a distance from the land, tliough 

 with some slight variations, may 

 be illustrated by numerous facts 

 of almost annual occurrence. A 

 few striking incidents shall suf- 

 fice. 



From a narrative of the loss of 

 several of the Dutch Greenland 

 fleet in the year 1777, we learn 

 that the ship Wilhelmina was 

 moored to a field of ice on the 22d 

 of June, in the usual fishing- 

 station, along with a large fleet of 

 other whalers. On the 25th, the 

 Wilhelmina was closely beset. 

 The crew were obliged to work 

 incessantly for eight days, in saw- 

 ing a dock in the field, wherein 

 tlie ship was at that time pre- 

 served. 



On the 25th of July, the ice 

 slacked, and the ship was towed 

 to the eastward, during four days 

 laborious rowing with the boats. 

 At the extremity of the opening, 

 they joined four ships, and all of 

 them were soon again beset by 

 the ice. Shortly afterwards, they 

 were drifted within sight of the 

 coast of Old Greenland, in about 

 75§<' of north latitude. On the 

 15th of August, nine sail were 

 collected together ; and about the 

 20th, after sustaining a dreadful 

 storm, and an immense pressure 

 of the ice, which accumulated 

 around them twenty or thirty feet 

 high, — two of the ships were 

 wrecked. Two more were wrecked 

 four or five days afterwards, to- 

 gether with two others at a dis- 

 tance 



