PASSAGE THROUGH THE ICE 81 



" Wait, wait, and maybe it will change to-morrow," has been 

 our refrain for days, and it is anything but pleasant. 



It cleared a little at 8.30 P.M., and we have been aloft 

 to look around ; but nothing could be more discouraging 

 than the sight which met our eyes. There is a belt of ice, 

 about four to five miles across, and by no means heavy. It 

 is all loose, caught on ground ice, and only a rise of the water 

 is needed to clear it off, as the ground ice will then be floated 

 and the whole will drift out east or west (the direction does 

 not matter), and then we shall have plain sailing to the open 

 water visible on the other side of the belt of ice. And beyond 

 the open water, stretching all the way towards the horizon, 

 there is still more open water. The sky is dark, with not 

 a single white streak or spot to show the presence of ice. But 

 what is the use of sitting up in the crow's-nest and looking 

 at the water ? It is only the more tantalizing when we know 

 that at present we cannot reach it. The young ice is forming 

 now every night, winter is coming, and we are only at Point 

 Barrow ! Four whalers are on the other side of the ice, 

 steamers, which are trying as hard as they can to force their 

 way through, but the barrier will not yield to their endeavours, 

 and not even with a fair wind and the current in their favour 

 can they force the few miles of ice. 



Monday, August 27. Lay still all day with nothing to do 

 but to watch the ice. There is absolutely no change for the 

 better; if anything, things are worse. Some loose ice has drifted 

 in somewhere from the north-east, and the whalers, who have 

 now about two miles of ice behind them, are no nearer Point 

 Barrow than yesterday. There are now six of them, each 

 trying at a different place. For five days almost they have been 

 working at those five or six miles of ice, and out north-west, 

 about four miles off land, are the William Bailis, Mount Ray, 

 and the U.S. R.C. Thetis, trying to get east. They have made no 

 progress for several hours, and I think that they will have 

 to abandon the attempt and return. The weather has been 

 fine all day, clear and calm. 



Tuesday, August 28. Again wind from N.E., and a very 

 strong one ; the current likewise is trying to make up for 

 lost time, and is running as swiftly as ever before. The 

 ice is closing in on us, and we were obliged to leave our 



A.I. G 



