EXPLANATION OF TECHNICAL TERMS 



PECULIAR TO THE NAVIGATION AMONG ICE; 



And occasioyially made use of in the course of the following Narrative, where they are distinguished 



by inicrted commas. 



Bay-ice. — Ice newly-formed upon the surface of the sea. 



Beset. — Th; situation of the ship when closely surrounded by ice. 



Bight. — An indentation in a floe of ice, liiie a bay, by which name it is sometimes called. 



Blisk. — A peculiar brightness in the atmosphere, often assuming an arch-like form , which 

 is generally perceptible over ice or land covered with snow. The blink of land, as 

 well as that over large quantities of ice, is usually of a yellowish cast. 



Bore. — The operation of " boring" through loose ice consists in entering it under a press of 

 sail, and forcing the sliip througli by separating the masses. 



Calf. — A mass of ice lying under a floe near its margin, and when disengaged from that 



position, rising with violence to the surface of the water. See ToNG UE. 

 Vlear Water. — Any part of the sea unincumbered with ice. 

 Crow\s-]<Iest. — A small circular house like a cask, fixed at the mast-head , in which the 



look-out man sits, cither to guide the ship through the ice, or to give notice of 



wliales. 



Dock. — In a floe may be natural or artificial; the former being simpl)- a small "bight, m 

 which a ship is placed to secure her from the danger of external pressure, and the 

 latter, a square space cut out with saws for a similar purpose. 



Field. — A slieet of ice generally of great thickness, and of too great extent to be seen over 

 from a ship's mast-head. 



Flinching. — The operation of stripping a sea-animal of its skin and blubber. 



Floe. — The same as a field, except that its extent can be distinguished from a ship's mast- 

 iitad. A " bay-floe" is a floe of ice newly formed. 



A HoiB or Pool of water. — A small space of "clear water," when the rest of the sea is 

 covered with ice. 



Land-ice.— Ice attached to the land, either in floes or in hea^-j- grounded masses lying near 

 the shore. 



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