NINE MONTHS IN THE ARCTIC. 55 



heading north-west by north. At the same 

 hour that night, wore ship again, heading north- 

 east. 



We passed a ship, within the distance of half a 

 a mile, under bare poles, laboring very hard. On 

 the 24th, four o'clock, wore ship north- north-west, 

 wind blowing very heavily from the north-east. 

 We saw great quantities of drift stuff, such as 

 barrels, wood, &c, probably the deck load of 

 some ship swept by the sea. At twelve o'clock, 

 wore ship again ; the wind appeared to lull some- 

 what, but the sea was very rugged ; we judged 

 we were about one hundred or one hundred and 

 twenty miles distant from land ; weather thick, 

 with rain, sleet, and fog. About one o'clock, on 

 the morning of the 25th, the wind increased, and 

 swept over the ocean with the violence of a 

 hurricane. The darkness of the night added to 

 the tumultuous and mountainous waves that 

 were running at that time; the surface of the 

 ocean lashed into fury by the thickening storm, 

 still gathering its strength ; the noble ship now 

 risinir the crested billow, and then sinking into 

 the watery valley beneath, and pressed down by 

 the beating and overwhelming elements, made 

 the scene one of indescribable grandeur and 

 awfulness. With the return of morning light, 

 an ugly sea struck the ship, and took her spars 



