100 Our North Land. 



fair weather. About two o'clock in the afternoon we were passing 

 a stretch of field ice, which ever kept to starboard. It was 

 about ten miles in length, and was the first we had seen near the 

 centre of the Strait. The water was quite smooth during the after- 

 noon. 



The Neptune encountered heavy ice-floes at half-past three 

 o'clock on Sunday morning, the 24th August, and was kept busy 

 enough fighting them for over fifteen miles, or until we found an an- 

 chorage on Sunday evening about 4.30 o'clock. At times we enjoyed 

 say an hour, and once nearly two hours' freedom, but the day's 

 journey was fully three parts through ice, some of it not very heavy, 

 while in other places it was almost beyond the power of the Nep- 

 tune to penetrate. 



Sunday was exceedingly fine and bright, especially during the 

 afternoon, when we. enjoyed the additional blessing of warmth. The 

 temperature was not very high, but the bright sun made it appear 

 warmer than it really was. As we approached the shores, first of 

 Salisbury then" of Nottingham Islands, the ice became heavier, and 

 while the Neptune was struggling with the thickest of it, trying to 

 make what appeared to be a good anchorage on the east coast of 

 Nottingham Island, she became entangled in the ice, broke her pro- 

 peller, and had to make her way to the cove with a one-winged fan. 

 This lop-sided navigation, consequent upon the accident, cast a 

 cloud over our spirits and took much enjoyment out of the day. It 

 was the first time we saw Capt. Sopp really out of patience. In 

 short, he was out of temper to the extent of using, unparliamentary 

 language. There was another fan on deck, brought along in case of 

 accident; but it required two or three days and much difficult labor to 

 put it into position, so that, everything considered, the accident was 

 no small misfortune. 



The scene around us during our last ten miles' approach to 

 Nottingham Island, and while we were coasting among the ice in 

 more than one unfruitful attempt to make an anchorage, will not 

 easily be forgotten by those on board the Neptune during that 

 experience. The work of crushing a passage through the ice, which 

 was exceedingly heavy, called every nerve into play. It was a 



