Forced to Turn Bad. 189 



then she was stopped merely by loose floes through 

 which a powerful vessel like the " Arctic " could 

 easily have forced a passage. I was indeed in- 

 formed that the " Polaris " was stopped by a very 

 insignificant stream of ice which, in addition to its 

 offering no real obstruction, had a clear lead through 

 into ojoen water, with a magnificent water sky as far 

 as could be seen to the northward. Hall was most 

 reluctant to turn back, but being no sailor and 

 having no experience in ice navigation, he thought 

 he had no alternative but to follow the advice of 

 his sailing master, Captain Buddington. This old 

 whaling skipper, fearing- that if they persevered 

 they might be unable to retrace their steps, advised 

 a retrograde movement, and thus ended all further 

 attempts to reach the North Pole. The floes met 

 with up Smith Sound were not of a heavy descrip- 

 tion, and seldom exceeded five feet in thickness, so 

 that we may infer that they were formed in one 

 winter. No icebergs of any size were seen to the 

 north of 80°. Dr. Bessels informs me that, at 

 Newman Bay, a place about eighteen miles to the 

 northward of their winter quarters, the ice appeared 

 heavier and more extensive than that further south, 

 though it was all drifting to the south and west. 

 Two or three of the fields he estimated at a mile in 

 length, with hummocks from ten to twelve feet 

 high, but all the ice seen from their winter quarters 

 appeared to be only of one year's growth. 



From their highest point, in 82° 1G' N., they saw 



