THE TRAM'S' SECOND WINTER HARBOUR. 215 



but she had stopped at such a respectful distance that he only 

 wounded her, and very soon she vanished from sight. 



Although there was no wind, we now began to drift slowly west 

 with the drift-ice, which still held us fast. A number of grounded 

 bergs, which we saw here, seemed to be looking at us, and 

 envying us for being still afloat, and not even sounding. We 

 should never have thought of sounding in such distinguished 

 company, for they are sounding-machines in themselves, and 

 where they touch the bottom the ' Fram ' can safely sail. 



THE PEART EXPEDITION SHIP, THE ' WINDWARD.' (See p. 200.) 



On the night of August 31, the ice slackened in earnest, and 

 we set our course north-eastwards, to where Sir Robert Inglis Peak 

 ought to be. The mate, whose watch it was, worked up a long 

 lead, which he thought would be a good move ; but the fog came on 

 again so thickly that he could not see more than ten or twenty 

 yards ahead, the result being that he suddenly found himself with 

 the jib-boom almost touching an iceberg. He just managed to get 

 clear of it by putting the helm hard a-port. We were in no 

 great danger, however, for the water was smooth, the weather still, 

 and the speed small ; the only thing we could have risked by a 

 collision was the jib-boom itself. 



