12 



A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 



strong riplings, which evidently indicated a current, but its direction 

 was not ascertained. We found, however, by the recent observa- 

 tions, that the ship had been set daily to the southward, since we 

 had opened Davis' Straits. The variation of the compass was ob- 

 served to be 5!2° 41' W. 



At nine P.M., brilliant coruscations of the Aurora Borealis ap- 

 peared, of a pale ochre colour, with a slight tinge of red, in an 

 arched form, crossing the zenith from N".W. to S.E., but afterwards 

 they assumed various shapes, and had a rapid motion. 



On the 5th of August, a party of the officers endeavoured to get on 

 one of the larger icebergs, but ineffectually, owing to the steepness 

 and smoothness of its sides, and the swell produced by its undu- 

 lating motion. This was one of the largest we saw, and Mr. Hood 

 ascertained its height to be one hundred and forty-nine feet ; but 

 these masses of ice are frequently magnified to an immense size, 

 through the illusive medium of a hazy atmosphere, and on this ac- 

 count their dimensions have often been exaggerated by voyagers. 



In the morning of the 7th, the Island of Kesolution was indis- 

 tinctly seen through the haze, but was soon afterwards entirely 

 hidden by a very dense fog. The favourable breeze subsided into a 

 perfect calm, and left the ship surrounded by loose ice. At this time 

 the Eddystone was perceived to be driving with rapidity towards some 

 of the larger masses ; the stern boats of this ship and of the Wear 

 were despatched to assist in towing her clear of them. At ten, a 

 momentary clearness presented the land distinctly at the distance of 

 two miles j the ship was quite unmanageable, and under the sole 

 governance of the currents, which ran in strong eddies between the 

 masses of ice. Our consorts were also seen, the Wear being within 

 hail, and the Eddystone at a short distance from us. Two attempts 

 were ineffectually made to gain soundings, and the extreme density of 

 the fog precluded us from any other means of ascertaining the direc- 

 tion in which we were driving until half past twelve, when we had the 



