BREAKINO-UP OF THE ICE. :J79 



were produce I with such violence, that often masses 

 of ice were thrown up, as by the effect of a mine, 

 several feet in the air, and formed banks on eithei- 

 side of the crevice from whicli they had been pro- 

 jecte h During our captivity we were able to cap- 

 ture in these channels of open water about 70 sea- 

 cows, which furnished us with food for our dogs and 

 oil for our lamps. 



" We did not regain our liberty until the 25th of 

 April, in latitude 60° 30', and under circumstances 

 which will long be remembered by those who shared 

 in the expedition. A violent tempest arose in the 

 south-east ; the ocean, stirred from its depths, broke 

 up its icy crust, and hurled into chaotic disorder the 

 broken masses of the icefield, threatening a score of 

 times the little Fox with total destruction. Our 

 salvation in these critical circumstances was due in 

 the first place to Providence, and secondarily to the 

 excellence of our screw and the form of our stem." 



It thus appears that M*Clintock's ship had drifted 

 with the ice from the 75th to the 63rd degree of 

 latitude — that is to say, a distance of about 300 

 leagues from its starting-point. A violent spring 

 storm broke up this mass of ice, which then drifted 

 in dangerous confusion towards Newfoundland, where 

 it would meet with the warm waters of the Gulf 

 Stream, and gradually disappear in the ocean. 



