43 BESET m MELVILLE BAY. Chap. in. 



2'ith. — Fine weather witli very light northerly 

 winds. "We have drifted 7 miles to the west in 

 the last two days. The ice is now a close pack, 

 so close that one may walk for many miles over it 

 in any direction, by merely turning a little to 

 the right or left to avoid the small water spaces. 

 My frequent visits to the crow's-nest are not in- 

 spiriting : how absolutely distressing this im- 

 prisonment is to me, no one without similar 

 experience can form any idea. As yet the crew 

 have but little suspicion how blighted our pro- 

 spects are. 



27th. — We daily make attempts to push on, 

 and sometimes get a ship's length, but yester- 

 day evening we made a mile and a half ! the ice 

 then closed against the ship's sides and lifted her 

 about a foot. We have had a fresh east wind 

 for two days, but no corresponding ice-drift to 

 the west ; this is most discouraging, and can 

 only be accounted for by supposing the existence 

 of much ice or grounded icebergs in that direc- 

 tion. 



The dreaded reality of wintering in the pack 

 is gradually forcing itself upon my mind, — but I 

 must not write on this subject, it is bad enough 

 to brood over it unceasingly. We can see the 

 land all round Melville Bay, from Cape Walker 

 nearly to Cape York. Petersen is indefatigable 



