ICE. NAVIGATION 433 



me in London how much he enjoyed that summer's cruise on her. 

 She was strongly built, a good sailer, could steam ten knots, and was 

 a splendid sea boat. I was in her with a deck load of seals in a strong 

 gale of wind. She was loaded very deeply and yet didn't ship any 

 water worth while. 



The Windward was the flagship, the Hope the auxiliary ship. 

 We left Sydney, Nova Scotia, several days before her. I was then 

 mate on the Windward. We were bark-rigged and could only steam, 

 under the very best conditions, four knots an hour. That season 

 there was a good deal of ice in Melville Bay. It was in large sheets 

 with many holes and lots of good leads but here and there bars which 

 stopped us. Although the Hope did the two hundred miles between 

 the Duck Islands and Cape York in three days, it took us eight 

 or ten days. I can remember later when leaving Etah together 

 at this time there was some ice across the entrance of the fiord. The 

 Hope steamed out through it and in a short while reached open water. 

 But it took us in the Windward many hours to get through the narrow 

 string into the open water beyond. We of course were bound north, 

 our destination Sherard Osborn Fiord. The Hope sailed south and 

 home. It was very provoking, "conning" the Windward through the 

 loose ice. I had been in the Iceland, another Dundee whaler, and 

 thence in the Hope. Father was captain on these sealing trips. The 

 Hope was handy and could be spun like a top, although we had hand 

 steering gear. On her we had a couple of hundred men. This meant 

 fresh hands. With the double wheels four men for one hour spun the 

 wheel almost as if it were steam steering gear. A ship that is lively 

 with her helm is a great asset in panned-up ice. With steam steering 

 gear and good speed and the well-rounded raking stem it is just like 

 dodging in and out of traffic on Fifth Avenue with a good car. The 

 Hope had all the facilities of a good ice hunter, i. e. speed, good ma- 

 neuvering ability, raking bow and stem. Unfortunately, she was 

 clean aft, i. e. had a falling in around the tuck which made her sharp aft. 

 This caused the ice in passing along her sides to be drawn into the 

 propeller, which often required us to stop or slow down the engine to 

 save the propeller blades and shaft. 



The man in the crow's nest has to look out for the best lead ahead. 

 To be a good " Conner" one mustn't let his mind stray from the job 

 in hand. He must always look for the best leads and high up as he is 

 and often with a heavy ship, deeply laden with supplies, he has to 

 look out for hard corners of ice. Hitting stem on doesn't matter, for 

 with the raking bow and stem the ship will slide up on a piece of ice, 

 thereby easing the shock or momentum. He also has to watch her 

 stern for the swinging of her quarter on to a hard point of ice. A 

 tongue underneath the water may carry away propeller blade, shaft, 

 and propeller. Then, if she is deeply laden, she may carom from the 



