Apr. 18.58. ESCAPE FROM THE PACK. 109 



been, not only from eight months' imprison- 

 ment^ but from the perils of that one day ! Had 

 our little vessel been destroyed after the ice 

 broke up, there remained no hope for us. But 

 we have been brought safely through, and are 

 all truly grateful, I hope, and believe. 



I grieve to think of poor Lady Franklin and 

 our friends at home. Severely as we have felt 

 the failure of our first season's operations, yet 

 the ordeal is now over with us : not so with her 

 and them, — they have still to experience that 

 bitter disappointment. 



Our distance within the pack-edge, where we 

 first made sail yesterday, was 22 miles. Before 

 we got clear of the ice the height of the waves 

 was 13i feet ; after passing through the last of 

 it there was no increase, but the sea was more 

 confused ; in fact, within the ice all minor dis- 

 turbances were quelled or merged into one 

 regular fast-following swell. The ship and her 

 machinery behaved most admirably in the 

 struggle ; should I ever have to pass through 

 such an ice-covered, heaving ocean again, let me 

 secure a passage in the ' Fox.' 



During our 242 days in the packed-ice of 

 Baffin's Bay and Davis' Straits we were drifted 

 1194 geographical or 1385 statute miles; it is 



