166 NEARLY HEMMED IN. 



critical period happens to get becalmed far up 

 any of the long bays or fiords ; for when they 

 at length make their way to the entrance, they 

 may chance to find all hope of egress barred 

 for nine months to come, — a period synonymous 

 with eternity to most of those unfortunates who 

 have thus been entrapped. 



On my first visit to Spitzbergen, my yacht 

 had a very narrow escape from being shut into 

 a little bay, near Hvalfiske Point, into which 

 we had entered for the purpose of setting-up 

 the rigging for the voyage home. A sudden 

 calm came on, and the ice was advancing from 

 the east with such fearful rapidity that I began 

 to think we were in for an arctic winter. No 

 amount of tvhistling would induce a breeze to 

 spring up, so, after Vv^aiting to the last moment, 

 I ordered all hands into the boats, and with 

 some difficulty we succeeded in towing her out 

 of danger. I had been averse to adopt this 

 obvious expedient sooner, because we feared 

 that the strength of the current was such that 

 we should not be able to keep the yacht from 

 drifting against a long and formidable reef of 

 rocks, which lay beloiv the current ; but by the 

 assistance of Providence we got clear of both 

 ice and rocks, and drifted into open water. 



