Pursuing the Fish. 41 



stop by a heavy floe, and the other boats, which 

 had all entered the loose pack in pursuit of the fish, 

 were being so severely handled by the ice, that for 

 some time great fears were entertained for their 

 safety. On several occasions they were nearly 

 crushed between the floes, and were only saved by 

 the promptitude of their crews, who, hastily jump- 

 ing out, would haul them up on the ice. Some of 

 these floes were drawing over twenty feet of water, 

 which may give an idea of the ponderous weight of 

 these floating masses of ice. After a little time had 

 elapsed, and not without a great deal of difficulty, 

 we succeeded in picking up our four loose boats, 

 and then directed our attention to the fish, which 

 had been observed to come up in a water space, 

 but at such a distance that we were unable either to 

 use a lance or to fire a second harpoon. Our first 

 project was to transfer the lines from the fast boat 

 to the ship, which was accordingly done, though 

 not without much trouble, as the fish was still taking 

 line, and at such a rate that the bows of the boat 

 were drawn down to the water's edge, and the 

 harpooneer was enveloped in smoke caused by the 

 friction of the line round the bollard head. The 

 whale had by this time run out ten lines (1,200 

 fathoms), equivalent to about a mile and a 

 quarter. 



The captain was much afraid lest he should lose 

 all these lines, as he had from the first foreseen the 



