FISHERMEN'S OWN BOOK. 



97 



the Wil/iam T. Merchant's dories aboard of our vessel, while one of our 

 dories, which had held on to the trawl too long, had to seek a refuge on 

 board of the Lizzie K. Clark. After our dories were taken in we had a bet- 

 ter chance to view the scene, which certainly had a decidedly arctic appear- 

 ance. As far as the eye could extend from aloft, in a southern and eastern 

 direction, an almost unbroken mass of drifting field ice was all that could 

 be seen. Here and there, however, a small streak or pond of water added 

 a little diversity to the otherwise monotonous appearance of the frozen 

 ocean. 



All of the forenoon and the first hours of the afternoon the ice kept drift- 

 ing by us, being carried along with the current. But our anchor held fast, 

 though the strain was great on our cable as the heavy masses of ice came 

 up against the bows and went grinding, gritting and groaning along the ves- 

 sel's side. After a while a moderately sized open space was seen ahead, 

 and as it approached us the men belonging to the Peabody and Merchant 

 anxiously watched it, being very desirous to reach their respective vessels, 

 which were not far off. In this they succeeded. 



• A moderate breeze sprang up in the afternoon, and the Lizzie K. Clark, 

 getting into one of the clear streaks, got underway and worked up abreast 

 of us, when she forced her way through the ice, passing close alongside, 

 dropping our dory, which came aboard all right. 



Meanwhile, we had hove short on our cable, and seeing an open place to 

 windward, were all ready to break out our anchor as soon as the opening 

 came near enough to us. We waited only a short time before we got under- 

 way, after which we stood back and forth along the weather edge of the 

 ice, watching for the trawl buoys to make their appearance, and as fast as 

 they did, sent a dory to haul the trawl. 



This area of clear water was of considerable extent, and, since the current 

 did not run so swiftly as before, we had a very good chance to work. How- 

 ever, the ice was down on us again before we got all the gear, but the men 

 stuck to it, and, as there was a fine sailing breeze, the vessel could force 

 her way through the floe quite well. It was nine o'clock in the evening 

 when the last dory came aboard — the others had finished hauling their gear 

 before dark. The ice was all around this boat during the evening, but we 

 kept near to her, though it required close calculation to keep the run of her 

 in the darkness. The men in her got the whole of their gear, and, notwith- 

 standing the unfavorable appearance of things in the morning, we lost only 

 one skate of trawl. When, at last, all hands were safely on board, and we 

 were seated at the supper table, the incidents and anxieties of the day be- 

 came the subjects of an animated conversation, and each one had a yarn to 

 spin in relation to his experience during the day. 



