SURROUNDED BY TERRORS. 141 



as to the where or the when of their deliverance 

 from the pack ; exposed to the terrible dangers of 

 disrupting ice, and surrounded by the depressing 

 gloom of the long arctic night. 



At length deliverance came ; but it came sur- 

 rounded by terrors. In February, M'Clintock 

 writes thus : " Daylight reveals to us evidences 

 of vast ice-movements having taken place during 

 the dark months, when we fancied all was still and 

 quiet ; and we now see how greatly we have been 

 favoured, what innumerable chances of destruction 

 we have unconsciously escaped. A few days ago, 

 the ice suddenly cracked within ten yards of the 

 ship, and gave her such a smart shock that every 

 one rushed on deck with astonishing alacrity. One 

 of these sudden disruptions occurred between me 

 and the ship, when I was returning from the ice- 

 berg. The sun was just setting as I found myself 



cut off. At length I reached a place where the 



jagged edges of the floes met; so crossed, and got 

 safely on board." 



Again, in March, he says : " Last night the ice 

 closed, shutting up our lane ; but its opposite sides 

 continued for several hours to move past each other, 

 rubbing off all projections, crushing and forcing out 

 of the water masses four feet thick. Although one 

 hundred and twenty yards distant, this pressure 

 shook the ship and cracked the intervening ice." 



Soon after that, a heavy gale burst upon them 

 from the south-east, encircling them with snow- 



