198 THE SEA. 



broke through the thin ice and plunged up to his neck ; another endeavouring to 

 remove a piece of ice by pushing against a larger mass, would set himself adrift with 

 it, and every such adventure was followed by shouts of laughter and vociferous mirth/' 

 These efforts at releasing the ship were only partially successful, and she was soon again 

 surrounded by the ice. On the morning of September 20th a fresh breeze stirred up 

 the masses. " Shortly after 9 a.m. a floe piece split in two, and the extreme violence 

 of the pressure curled and crumbled up the windward ice in an awful manner, forcing it 

 against the beam fully eighteen feet high. The ship creaked as it were in agony, and 

 strong as she was must have been stove and crushed had not some of the smaller 

 masses been forced under her bottom, and so diminished the strain by actually lifting her 

 bow nearly two feet out of the water. In this perilous crisis steps were taken to have 

 everything in readiness for hoisting out the barge, and, without creating unnecessary 

 alarm, the officers and men were called on the quarter-deck, and desired, in case of 

 emergency, to be active in the performance of their duties at the respective stations 

 then notified to them. It was a serious moment for all, as the pressure still continued, 

 nor could we expect much, if any, abatement until the wind changed. 



"At noon the weather and our prospects remained the same. The barometer was 

 falling, and the temperature was 26" , with unceasing snow. Much ice had been sunk 

 under her bottom, and a doubt existed whether it was not finding its way beneath the 

 lee floe also; for the uplifted ruins, within fifty paces of the weather beam, were 

 advancing slowly towards us like an immense wave fraught with destruction. Resistance 

 would not, could not, have been effectual beyond a few seconds ; for what of human 

 construction could withstand the impact of an icy continent driven onward by a furious 

 storm ? In the meantime symptoms too unequivocal to be misunderstood demonstrated 

 the intensity of the pressure. The butt-ends began to start, and the copper in which 

 the galley apparatus was fixed became creased, sliding-doors refused to shut, and leaks 

 found access through the bolt-heads and bull's-eyes. On sounding the well, too, an 

 increase of water was reported, not sufficient to excite apprehension in itself, but such 

 as to render hourly pumping necessary. Moved by these indications, and to guard 

 against the worst, I ordered the provisions and preserved meats, with various other 

 necessaries, to be got up from below and stowed on deck, so as to be ready at a 

 moment to be thrown upon the large floe alongside. To add to our anxiety night 

 closed prematurely, when suddenly, from some unknown cause, in which, if we 'may 

 :so deem without presumption, the finger of Providence was manifest, the floe which 

 threatened instant destruction turned so as in a degree to protect us against an increase 

 of pressure, though for several hours after the same creaking and grinding sounds 

 continued to annoy our ears. The barometer and the other instruments fell with a 

 regularity unprecedented, yet the gale was broken, and by midnight it had abated 

 considerably. 



" Sept. 21st. There was a lateral motion in some pieces of the surrounding ice, 

 and, after several astounding thumps under water against the bottom, the ship, which 

 liad been lifted high beyond the line of flotation, and thrown somewhat over to 

 port, suddenly started up and almost righted. Still, however, she inclined more than 



