OLD WHALING DAYS. 141 



bowsprit, level with the water, and breaking the young bay 

 ice ahead of the ship. This precaution of hanging the boat 

 in the tackle is taken for fear a breeze may spring up and 

 cause the ship to run over the boat, endangering the lives of 

 the crew, as I have known to be the case. 



After toiling all day, we only succeeded in getting a mile. 

 The s.s. Narwhal came to our relief, and towed us into clear 

 water without the least difficulty. This showed the 

 superiority of steam over sailing vessels. We plied to and 

 fro for some time. The nights were also lengthening, and 

 the weather boisterous with thick showers of sleet and snow. 

 Being now in open water, and no prospect of getting any 

 more whales, we took our boats on deck, and made every- 

 thing secure for the passage home. We worked our way to 

 the southward with a strong S.W. wind. I had no chrono- 

 meter on board to ascertain our position when the weather 

 cleared, which caused me some uneasiness, and we had not 

 seen the land or sun for several days. However, we 

 managed to find our way down the Straits, although the 

 weather continued to be very bad. 



With favourable winds at intervals, we -reached Lat. 

 57 N. and Long. 24 W., when we encountered a heavy 

 gale, which forced us to lay to under a close-reefed main 

 topsail three days and a-half, and drifted us about one 

 hundred and fifty miles to the northward. Luckily, we were 

 a little to the southward when the gale commenced, and 

 when it moderated the wind changed to the westward, 

 which enabled us to sail with a flowing sheet. 



The first land we sighted was Barra and Rona Islands, 

 then Sumbro' Head, and we soon brought up in Lerwick 

 Harbour. Two ships had arrived the day before, and some 

 came after us. All had experienced the same gale, and 

 been driven to the northward of the Faroe Islands. We 

 waited here three days for a fair wind, and eventually arrived 

 in the Humber, and into dock. 



