146 OLD WHALING DAYS. 



with the heavy swell. Having steamed half a mile in the 

 pack, both blades broke off the propeller, and the ship lay 

 broadside on to the swell, causing her to roll heavily. All 

 hands were soon at work, and in four hours we had the 

 broken one unshipped and the new one ready for lowering 

 into its place. 



During this time twenty-four men came on board, as 

 their vessel had just become a total wreck ; also four other 

 vessels which were further inshore. Their crews had 

 travelled to the land, which was about ten miles distant 

 from them. The heavy swell continued all night, but the 

 next day it subsided. We lowered our propeller and 

 steamed to the outside. The ice had slacked, and the 

 season was getting late, so we steamed towards St. John's, 

 where coals had been deposited for us, and entered the 

 pack a little to the northward of that place, but only 

 again to get beset, and it was so tightly packed that our 

 powerful steamer could not force her way through it. We 

 were rapidly drifting south, and in the afternoon opened the 

 harbour of St. John's, and could distinctly discern the town 

 and Cathedral clock from the crow's nest. It was very 

 annoying to be so near, yet not able to get into the 

 harbour. 



At midnight we were off Cape Spear, and knowing that the 

 further south we got the slacker the ice would be, we made 

 ourselves content until daylight, and then made every 

 effort to get into a narrow lane of water, which lay along the 

 land. After some difficulty we succeeded in doing so, 

 about two miles south' of a harbour called Bay Bulls, but 

 lost one blade off the propeller. This lane of water only 

 extended half a mile along the coast, towards the harbour, 

 and as the ice was closing rapidly it was a race between us 

 which got there first. Fortunately our one-bladed pro- 

 peller won the race, although it was a very close one. On 

 entering the harbour the water was not above two ships' 



