192 . National Geographic Magazine. 
more open water we had left by the lead we had come through ; 
but it was too late: this lead had closed and we were prisoners 
in the pack. There being no other place to go, I reluctantly 
selected the largest pool, or pocket, got out our ice-anchors, and 
made fast to a heavy floe, to await further developments. It was 
found to be in slow motion, and_four times during the night we — 
had to move to avoid the heavy floes closing in around us. 
From this time, the 19th, until the morning of the 24th, we 
were close prisoners in the heavy pack which had set down with 
the wind, now northerly, between Point Barrow and Point. 
Tangent. . 
In the words of the Ancient Mariner of Coleridge : 
“The ice was here, the ice was there, 
The ice was all around ; 
It cracked and growled, and roared and howled, 
Like noises in a swound.” 
By incessant watchfulness, almost constant movement, vigorous 
ramming, faithful working of the engines, and (most important 
of all) a favorable shift of wind, the good ship, under Divine 
Providence, escaped without damage or accident. Fortunately 
within easy reach of land and but twenty-five miles from Point 
Barrow refuge-station, I had no undue anxiety for life; but I 
have no hesitation in stating that the readiness, endurance, and 
subordination of the officers and men of the ship shown in the 
bringing out of the ship intact from the ice pack, after nearly five 
days’ imprisonment, entitle them to great credit from the proper 
authorities and justify their commanding officer in the present 
expression of his high appreciation of their conduct and_his 
warm feelings toward themselves. 
About noon of the 25th of August, after a night of hard ram- 
ming, we anchored off the west side of Point Barrow, greeted by 
salutes from the whalers anchored there and by the hearty con- 
gratulations of the masters, who soon came on board and learned 
for the first time that Mackenzie Bay had been reached. 
We found that the sailing fleet had gone to the westward, after 
having been shut in by the ice coming down on Point Barrow 
and Cape Smyth for several days, during our absence. The few. 
whalers that remained had been watching us from their crows’ - 
nests during our imprisonment, but were unable, of course, to — 
afford us any assistance, each ship having to work out her own 
salvation : companion-vessels are of great service only in case 
