54 THE WHALEMAN J 0K 5 



put under short sail ; rough ; unable to keep fires 

 in the furnace ; ship heading to the south-east. 

 We spoke with Captain Clough, who had just 

 taken in a " raft" of blubber. "We took a whale ; 

 and for a little time the wind moderated, which 

 gave us hope that we should have favorable 

 weather some time longer. Captain Clough left 

 us that day, and turned his ship towards the 

 straits, saying, " I am bound out of the ocean, 

 and have enough." His ship was full ; he had 

 thirty-two hundred barrels of oil on board. 



We concluded to remain on the ground a 

 while longer, in lat. 68° N. The wind, which 

 had in a measure subsided, now began to rise 

 and increase, until it had reached a heavy gale. 

 We saw in the distance several ships steering 

 for the straits, and bound for the islands. On 

 the 23d, it blew hard, and we were unable to 

 boil. 



We judged we were, at this time, about one 

 hundred and fifty miles from land. The weather 

 had been thick for several days past, and there- 

 fore we were unable to get an observation. We 

 saw several ships lying to, and heading some 

 one way and some another. The water, we per- 

 ceived, was very much colored, which indicated 

 that we were drifting towards the eastern shore 

 of the Arctic. At twelve o'clock, wore ship, 



