144 OLD WHALING DAYS. 



easier and shipped less water. We sustained a little 

 damage to the bulwark, and when the gale abated, the wind 

 veered to the N.N.E., and we were able to carry the top 

 gallant sails until we made the ice about one hundred and 

 thirty miles from the land. We sail^ and steamed through 

 this ice until we sighted Cape Bacalieu. 



When night came on, the ice was so tightly packed that 

 we could not move. This was the first time we had been 

 fast in it with a land right in sight. The following day 

 steam was got up to try and force our way to the land water, 

 if there was any. We got within a few miles of the land, 

 but as there was no water to be seen, our only alternative 

 was to make fast to an iceberg, and wait for the ice to slack, 

 so that we could range about and proceed to the northward 

 in search of the seals. In a few hours a change took place, 

 and we steamed several miles in that direction along the 

 land, and again got tight beset amongst very heavy ice. A 

 strong gale from the eastward began to blow, which drifted 

 us rapidly up Trinity Bay and within a mile of a rock called 

 the White Rock. Then the pressure became so heavy that 

 our position began to look serious. Although our splendid 

 vessel was built as strong as wood and iron could make 

 her, we were obliged to put several blasts of powder under 

 some large pieces of ice which pressed heavily upon our 

 quarter. The cause of this sudden rush was owing to the 

 bay getting tightly packed. It was a grand but awful sight 

 to see the immense pieces running one over the other, then 

 turning upon their edges, falling and crashing like peals of 

 thunder. 



In such a case, if anything had happened, it would have 

 been a difficult thing for each man to take care of himself, 

 as it was utterly impossible to launch a boat. The boats 

 were taken upon deck on account of the ice screwing 

 up along the sides level with the rails. But we knew that 

 this could not last much longer, as the ice would soon 



