34 GREELY RELIEF EXPEDITION. 



Countless icebergs lay in stately and silent splendor, with here and 

 there slight pools of water about them. These were promising 

 signs, but we soon learned that the changes with every turn of the 

 kaleidescope are hardly more wonderful or surprising than those fol- 

 lowing each strong wind or tide in these regions of ice. 



These enforced waitings were all the more hard to bear as we knew 

 how seriously delay must tell upon the party to whose relief we were 

 anxiously hurrying. 



Watch was, therefore, always kept in the " crow's nest," and every 

 crack in the ice was critically scanned in the hope that advance 

 might be made. 



Every chance, however slight, was availed of to work northward 

 nearer to the imperiled party. 



On the evening of June 10 there were unmistakable indications of 

 a break in the ice, and another advance northward. 



At 6.30 a. m., June 11, observing open water through the rifts in 

 the show to the northwest of the anchorage, lines were again cast oflf , 

 but after a run of an hour or two in a snow storm it was found that 

 the leads were short and tended northerly toward the land ice, 

 though closing by a northwest tide then commencing to flow. When 

 the snow squalls passed it was 'found that several whalers had pre- 

 ceded us to this position, and later the others worked off near us. 



Advantage was taken of the largest open water space and held dur- 

 ing most of the day until an opportunity offered to gain a temporary 

 mooring against the solid ice floe, close to a favorable crack leading 

 landward, which opened toward 6 p. m. , after some ramming had been 

 done by the two ships. 



By 9 p. m. , however, a still better opening occurred, when both ships 

 succeeded in making good a distance of at least three miles northward; 

 but with each advance to a higher latitude the ice grew so noticeably 

 heavier that ramming was of necessity resorted to with caution. 



From the position gained by this day of hard work, it was discov- 

 ered that the northerly wind of a day or two past had broken the ice 

 very considerably across Melville Bay; therefore, it was necessary to 

 await its recurrence, or the cessation of a moderate wind then blow- 

 ing, in order that the floe ice might ease off from the land ice. 

 ■ A promising feature in the outlook of this day was, that, although 

 the floes were all large and heavy, there was a great quantity of broken 

 rubble ice near their edges, which usually indicated advance when the 

 tides or winds changed. 



At 3 p. m., June 12, a movement in the ice gave us a chance to reach 

 a lead, after some ramming, by which a mile further to the northeast 

 was made toward the land ice. Again, on the afternoon of the 13th 

 another advance of a mile was made, where both ships were detained 

 until June 14, 



