302 ANTARCTIC CRUISE. 



passed before she was entirely clear of it. This gave more room for 

 the drifting ice, and permitted the vessel to be worked by her sails. 



The relief from this pressing danger, however gratifying, gave no 

 assurance of ultimate safety. The weather had an unusually stormy 

 appearance ; and the destruction of the vessel seemed almost inevita- 

 ble, with the loss of every life on board. They had the melancholy 

 alternative in prospect of being frozen to death one after the other, or 

 perishing in a body by the dissolving of the iceberg on which they 

 should take refuge, should the vessel sink. 



When the dinner hour arrived the vessel was again fast in the ice, 

 and nothing could for a time be done : it was therefore piped as usual. 

 This served to divert the minds of the men from the dangers around 

 them. 



When the meal was over, the former manoeuvring was resorted to, 

 the yards being kept swinging to and fro, in order to keep the ship's 

 head in the required direction. She was labouring in the swell, with 

 ice grinding and thumping against her on all sides ; every moment 

 something either fore or aft was carried away — chains, bolts, bob- 

 stays, bowsprit, shrouds ; even the anchors were lifted, coming down 

 with a surge that carried away the eyebolts and lashings, and left them 

 to hang by the stoppers. The cut-water also was injured, and every 

 timber seemed to groan. 



Similar dangers attended those in the boats. Passed Midshipman 

 Eld was sent to plant the ice-anchors : there was no room for the use 

 of oars ; the grinding and grating of the ice, as it rose and fell with the 

 swell, rendered great precaution necessary to prevent the boat from 

 being swamped or crushed ; and when it is stated that two hours of 

 hard exertion were required to plant the ice-anchors, some idea of the 

 difficulty attending this service will be had. But this was not all ; the 

 difficulty of returning was equally great, and no possible way of effect- 

 ing it seemed to suggest itself. The sides of the icebergs could not be 

 ascended, and to approach the berg on the side next the ship was 

 certain destruction to the boat and crew, for the ice and water were 

 foaming like a cauldron ; and to abandon the former was equally out of 

 the question. At last a chance offered, although almost a hopeless 

 one, by passing between two of these bergs, that appeared on the 

 other side of a small clear space. The boat was upon a small piece 

 of ice, from which, by great exertions, she was launched ; a few pulls 

 at the oars brought them to the passage ; the bergs were closing fast, 

 and agitated by the swell; no time, therefore, was to be lost: the 

 danger was already great, and in a few seconds it would be impossible 

 to pass. They entered ; their oars caught, and they got but half-way 



