THE SEA. 



"The dreaded reality of wintering in the pack is gradually forcing itself upon my 

 mind; but I must not write on this subject: it is bad enough to brood over it un- 

 ceasingly. We can see the land all round Melville Bay, from Cape Walker nearly to Cape 

 York. Peterseu is indefatigable at seal shooting; he is so anxious to secure them for our 

 dogs. He says they must be hit in the head ; ' if you hit him in the beef that is not 

 good/ meaning that a flesh wound does not prevent their escaping under the ice. Peter- 

 sen and Christian practise an Esquimaux mode of attracting the seals. They scrape the 

 ice, thus making a noise like that produced by a seal in making a hole with its flippers, 

 and then place one end of a pole in the water and put their mouths close to the other 

 end, making noises in imitation of the snorts and grunts of their intended victims. 

 Whether the device is successful or not I do not know, but it looks laughable enough. 



"Christian came back a few days ago, like a true seal hunter, carrying his kaiyack 

 on his head, and dragging a seal behind him. Only two years ago Petersen returned 

 across this bay with Dr. Kane's retreating party. He shot a seal, which they devoured, 

 and which, under Providence, saved their lives. Petersen is a good ice pilot, knows all 

 these coasts as well as, or better than, any man living, and, from long experience and habits 

 of observation, is almost unerring in his prognostications of the weather. Besides his 

 great value to us as interpreter, few men are better adapted for Arctic work an ardent 

 sportsman, an agreeable companion, never at a loss for occupation or amusement, and 

 always contented and sanguine. But we have, happily, many such dispositions in the Fox. 



"30th. The whole distance across Melville Bay is 170 miles; of this we have per- 

 formed about 120, forty of which we have drifted in the last fourteen days. 



" Yesterday we set to work as usual to warp the ship along, and moved her ten 

 feet. An insignificant hummock then blocked up the narrow passage. As we could 

 not push it before us, a two-pound blasting charge was exploded, and the surface ice 

 was shattered; but such an immense quantity of broken ice came up from beneath that 

 the difficulty was greatly increased instead of being removed. This is one .of the many 

 instances in which our small vessel labours under very great disadvantages in ice navi- 

 gation ; we have neither sufficient manual power, steam power, nor impetus to force the 

 floes asunder. I am convinced that a steamer of moderate size and power, with a crew 

 of forty or fifty men, would have got through a hundred miles of such ice in less time 

 than we have been beset. " 



And so it went on from day to day, M'Clintock knowing that it was fast becoming 

 hopeless to expect a release, but, nevertheless, keeping his men well employed in prepara- 

 tions for wintering and sledge-travelling. Every now and then a " lane " of water opening 

 in the ice would mock their hopes. On one occasion such an opening appeared within 

 170 yards of the vessel, and by the aid of steam and blasting powder they advanced 100 

 yards towards it, when the floes again closed up tightly, and they had their trouble for 

 their pains. Numerous large icebergs were around them. Allen Young examined one, 

 which was 250 feet high, and aground in 83 fathoms (498 feet) of water. In other 

 words, the enormous mass was nearly 750 feet from top to bottom. The reader can judge 

 of such dimensions by comparison : St. Paul's is onty 370 feet in height. The looser ice 

 drifting past this berg was crushed, and piled up against its sides to a height of fifty feet. 



