130 A VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY 
this aggregation received the shock of it, and the colli- 
sion was certainly tremendous. Immense masses of the 
floe were broken off, and piled up on the top of what 
was already aground, from which most of them fell, 
or slid back again on the floe, and this operation 
continued for some time, until at length the force of 
the floe, which was at first going at the rate of two 
miles per hour, was almost entirely spent. It is un- 
necessary to observe, that had the ships been caught 
between the floe and the hummock just mentioned, 
their destruction would have been inevitable. 
Sunday, 19th. — Although we escaped last night 
without sustaining any damage, the Griper was not 
quite so fortunate, for she lost an anchor and the best 
part of a chain cable*, by the edge of the floe touching 
as it passed. - The boat which they had under the 
bows breaking the bay-ice was also carried away by 
the floe. But these are trifling losses when we 
consider what mischief might have happened had not 
the pile of ice before mentioned fended off the violent 
pressure of the floe ; for had the ships received the 
shock, I have little doubt but it would have forced 
them up on the beach; and indeed had we been 
only a few yards nearer the outer extremity of the 
heap of ice in question, the consequences might have 
been equally destructive. Nothing occurred to-day 
worthy of notice, the ice being closely packed all 
around us, we had no other choice but to remain 
still in the same place where we brought up last 
night. 
Monday, 20th. — Between four and five o’clock in 
* [have understood since that the cable was not carried away, 
but unshackled in order to get clear of the ice. 
