176 THE WHALE AND 



Changes to a Gale. Ice-broken Earners. 



with his situation ; but, there being no wind, he 

 could not move one way or the other, and he 

 therefore kept a strict watch, knowing that he 

 would be safe as long as the icebergs continued 

 in their respective places. About midnight the 

 wind rose to a gale, accompanied by thick show- 

 ers of snow, while a succession of thundering, 

 grinding, and crashing noises gave fearful evi- 

 dence that the ice was in motion. 



The vessel received violent shocks every mo- 

 ment, for the haziness of the atmosphere pre- 

 vented those on board from discovering in what 

 direction the open water lay, or if there actual- 

 ly was any at all on either side of them. The 

 night was spent in tacking as often as any case 

 of danger happened to present itself, and in the 

 morning the storm abated, and Captain War- 

 rens found, to his great joy, that his ship had 

 not sustained any serious injury. He remark- 

 ed with surprise that the accumulated icebergs, 

 which had the preceding evening formed an im- 

 penetrable barrier, had been separated and dis- 

 engaged by the wind, and that in one place a 

 canal of open sea wound its course among them 

 as far as the eye could discern. 



It was two miles beyond the entrance of this 



