Myth of the Ship-holder. 299 



wind was W.N.W., a gentle breeze and water quite smooth. 

 We had all sails set and made about 3^ knots. At 

 10 a.m., when we were about 12 naut. miles S.W. of Cerigo, 

 the brig no longer answered her helm and began to go up 

 northward to the wind. We worked the helm but to no 

 avail. We backed the yards and shivered the braces and 

 made all conceivable manoeuvres, but the ship only turned 

 a little and went back again. The little wind we had, 

 seemed to be the same as before, and there were many ships 

 in company both to port and starboard of us, which sailed 

 away, whilst we were lying as if at anchor. Yet there was 

 one sail about 3 miles to port of us in the same predicament. 

 ."In this manner we lay for If hours, when the ship 

 began to glide and fall to leeward a little. We then got the 

 head sails filled and had the aftersails shivering, and without 

 any command of the helm the vessel got down into its 

 course. The most remarkable thing was, however, that 

 when I stood afore, I saw a long stripe stretching from the 

 bow far over the water on each side dividing the water into 

 two parts. The water around the ship was light gray, but 

 ahead of the stripe it was wholly dark. These stripes 

 seemed by and by to move aft .... of course it was the ship 

 that began to glide slowly onward .... and after 5 or 6 

 minutes when the stripes had passed along the ship and had 

 left the stern and the rudder, then, at that same moment, 

 the ship again answered her helm and made head- way. 

 The wind was about the same — W.N.W. by W. a gentle 

 breeze. We made 3 knots, but no more, in the afternoon. 



" When we approached Cerigo, the ship was about to get 

 into dead-water again, but by working the rudder to and 

 fro, we steered again, and after that, we did not feel the 

 dead-water any more. 



" The ship, during its long voyage, had become very dirty 

 and overgrown with barnacles of 10 or 15 cm. in length, 

 which may have had some effect." 



From Ekman's quotations from his correspondents as to 

 the occurrence of dead-water around Scandinavia, the 

 following short excerpts are taken. In perusing them the 

 reader is asked to bear in mind the very words of the 

 quotations concerning the actions of ships found in the first 

 section of this paper. 



The ' Fram ' being in dead-water off Taimur Island .... 

 " It may therefore be supposed that the speed was reduced 

 to about a fifth of what it would otherwise have been": 

 and when steam was cut off at 100-150 metres from the 

 buoy, the speed was so reduced that the engine had to be 



