124 A YEAR WITH A WHALER 



The great continent of ice drifting southward 

 gradually closed round the fleet. The ships had 

 worked so far in there was no escape. In the 

 early part of June the brig was frozen in. For 

 three weeks the vessel remained motionless in 

 solid ice with every stitch of canvas furled. No 

 water or land was in sight — nothing but one 

 great sweep of broken and tumbled ice as far as 

 the eye could see. Those three ice-bound June 

 weeks were given over to idleness. A stove was 

 placed in the forecastle and was kept going night 

 and day. This made it possible to keep comfort- 

 able and to read. 



We went on frequent seal hunts. We strolled 

 across the frozen sea to visit the other ships, the 

 nearest of which was two miles away. Visiting 

 is called " gamming " by whalers. We learned 

 the gossip of the fleet, who had taken the first 

 whale, how many whales had been caught, the 

 adventures of the ships, the comedies and trag- 

 edies of the whaling season. 



We established, too, what we called the " BeH- 

 ring Sea Circulating Library." There were a 

 number of books in every forecastle. These 



