THE " RUNNING ICE." 451 



spares neither men, vessel, nor gear. Everything is sup- 

 posed to be of the best and strongest ; and the strength 

 of everything on board is well tested on the voyage. 

 The skipper's constant thought is, the seals are ahead, 

 and ahead we must get, through fair weather or foul, 

 sunshine or fog, rain, hail, or snowstorm ; if the winds 

 but blow and the canvas holds, on the vessel must go. 

 The bold, daring hearts on board know no fear, heed not 

 the storm, the icebergs around, or the dangers from the 

 ' pans ' and fields of ice enclosing them ; undismayed and 

 undaunted, they all beat in unison, and with determina- 

 tion to reach the golden prize ahead." 



The great danger of the seal-fishery is the " running 

 ice." In their pursuit of the seals the ships sometimes go 

 inside the headlands of the bays. If the wind be blow- 

 ing from the north-east, it greatly increases the force of 

 the current which, in the spring of the year, always sets 

 to the southward ; and, accordingly, the ice is driven 

 along with a tremendous whirl and crash, carrying with 

 it any vessels unable to extricate themselves from the 

 labyrinth and put out to sea. So long as the ice which 

 holds the vessel prisoner keeps clear of the land, she is 

 comparatively safe ; but should it be caught by cape or 

 promontory, it begins to accumulate, raft upon raft, and 

 sheet upon sheet, grinding, tearing, crashing, splintering, 

 with a din which appals the stoutest heart, and a force 

 that menaces the stoutest ship with destruction. In such 

 a case the crew endeavour to save their clothes, guns, and 

 some provisions, and then take to the ice, with the view 

 of effecting a passage to the nearest vessel, or to the land. 



It is recorded that in the springs of 1862 and 1864 

 numerous disasters occurred from the running ice. From 



