64 VOYAGE TO TIIE POLAR SEA. August 



tide having begun to move the ice from the harbour, 

 and slight cracks appearing in the offing, both ships 

 were got under sail, in order to be ready to push round 

 Cape Sabine immediately a passage opened, which I 

 fully expected would be the case. When starting, being 

 only a ship's length from the shore, we calculated on a 

 friendly piece of ice acting as a buffer between the 

 vessel and the rocks ; but at the important moment 

 when its services were required, it slipped from the 

 ship's bow, and the tide carried us so close to the 

 shore that the heel of the rudder touched for a 

 moment. By the time we were clear, the cracks in the 

 ice instead of opening had closed, so the ships were 

 kept tacking back and forwards, until high- water, 

 after which, giving up all further hope for the day, 

 we beat back to our old quarters. The constant 

 tacking, and the close shaves between the two ships^ 

 as we passed each other, as well as with the rocks 

 occasionally, created much excitement and did good 

 to all. In the evening the wind freshened from the 

 southward and kept a space of water about half a mile 

 in diameter clear of ice near the, mouth of the har- 

 bour, but off Cape Sabine the ice still remained closely 

 packed. 



The wind freshening from the southward on the 4th 

 drifted a quantity of small pieces of ice across to the 

 northern side of the harbour, where the ships were 

 anchored, and prevented our communicating with the 

 shore except by hauling a boat over the ice. At 

 2 a.m., while I was anxiously watching for and ex- 

 pecting a change to occur with the ebb-tide, the ice 

 off Cape Sabine began to move, drifting to the east- 



