WE AEE DRIVEN AWAY BY ICE. 265 



We held a council of war, and discussed three 

 alternatives which we had before us : — 



Pirst : We might shift again into the sloop, 

 and obstinately ride out the gale in her, and 

 then, if it abated within a few days, we might 

 hope for three or four days more at the wal- 

 ruses, if we could find any. In this case the 

 yacht must be sent away in charge of a pilot to 

 await us at South Cape, or elsewhere, clear of 

 the ice. One grave objection to this course 

 was, that if thick weather came on we might 

 not be able to find the yacht at sea, and there 

 was no harbour in which I would now trust 

 her nearer than Ice Piord, as Horn Sound and 

 Bell Sound are liable to be choked up in one 

 night when the ice is moving fast round to the 

 westwards. 



Second : We could go home to Hammerfest 

 *' holus-bolus," as Mr. Wood expressed it, and. 



Third : We could send the sloop over to 

 Hammerfest, and go round to Ice Fiord our- 

 selves in the yacht for a few days. The 

 advantages of the last plan were that the sloop's 

 crew could be paid off, and our cargo valued 

 and accounts squared by the time that we *t 

 should probably arrive, and that we might 

 thus escape the chance of detention in Ham- 



