NINE MONTHS IN THE ARCTIC. 49 



heavy swell, so common in the open sea, the 

 peril of floating ice is greatly increased, as the huge 

 angular masses are rolled and ground against 

 each other with a force which nothing can resist. 



The striking of the Citizen against a mass of 

 ice, which nearly resulted in the loss of the ship 

 and the destruction of the voyage, was simply 

 inattention or misunderstanding the word of com- 

 mand. 



The man at the wheel was ordered not to 

 " luff" the ship any more, but " steady," as she 

 was approaching a mass of ice ; indeed, ice was 

 all around us, which would have passed us on 

 our larboard bow, and thus we should have es- 

 caped a concussion ; but instead of doing this, 

 he put the wheel down, which brought the ship 

 into the wind, and the consequence was, a large 

 hole was stoven in her larboard bow ; the ship 

 began to leak badly. Casks were immediately 

 filled with water, and placed on the starboard 

 side of the ship, and thus in a measure heeled 

 the ship, which brought the leak to a considera- 

 ble extent out of the water ; otherwise, she must 

 have sunk in a very little time. So far as we 

 were able, we temporarily repaired the injury, 

 and made all possible sail on the ship, in order 

 to seek some place of safety, where the whole 

 extent of the damage could be ascertained. 

 4 



