342 



THE POLAR WORLD. 



who, aware of the danger, ran at their greatest speed until they found a solid 

 footing. At length, about sixty miles from shore, they arrived at the edge 

 of an immense break in the ice, extending east and west farther than the eye 

 could reacho 



"We climbed one of the loftiest hummocks," says Wrangell, "whence we 

 obtained an extensive view towards the north, and whence we beheld the wide 

 ocean spread before our gaze. It was a fearful and magnificent, but to us a 

 melancholy spectacle ! Fragments of ice of enormous size floated on the sur- 

 face of the water, and were thrown by the waves with awful violence against 

 the edge of the ice-field on the farther side of the channel before us. The col- 

 lisions were so tremendous that large masses were every instant broken away, 

 and it was evident that the portion of ice which still divided the channel from 

 the open ocean would soon be completely destroyed. Had we attempted to 

 ferry ourselves across upon one of the floating pieces of ice, we should not have 

 found firm footing upon our arrival. Even on our own side fresh lines of water 

 were continually forming, and extending in every direction in the field of ice 

 behind us. We could go no farther. With a painful feeling of the impossi- 

 bility of overcoming the obstacles which nature opposed to us, our last hope 

 vanished of discovering the land, which we yet believed to exist. We saw 

 ourselves compelled to renounce the object for which we had striven through 

 three years of hardships, toil, and danger. We had done what honor and duty 

 demanded ; further attempts would have been absolutely hopeless, and I de- 

 cided to return." 



They turned, but already the track of their advance was scarcely discernible, 

 as new lanes of water had been formed, and fresh hummocks raised by the sea. 

 To add to their distress, a storm arose, which threatened every moment to 

 swallow up the ice island, on which they hoped to cross a wide space of water 

 which separated them from a firmer ground. 



" We had been three long hours in this position, and still the mass of ice 

 beneath us held together, when suddenly it was caught by the storm, and hurled 

 against a large field of ice ; the crash was terrific, and the mass beneath us 

 was shattered into fragments. At that dreadful moment, when escape seemed 

 impossible, the impulse of self-preservation, implanted in every living being, 

 saved us. Instinctively we all sprang at once on the sledges, and urged the 

 dogs to their full speed. They flew across the yielding fragments to the field 

 on which we had been stranded, and safely reached apart of it of firmer charac- 

 ter, on which were several hummocks, where the dogs immediately ceased run- 

 ning, conscious, apparently, that the danger was past. We were saved ! We 

 joyfully embraced each other, and united in thanks to God for our preservation 

 from such imminent peril." 



But their misfortunes did not end here ; they were cut off from the deposit 

 of their provisions ; they were 360 versts from their nearest magazines, and the 

 food for the dogs was now barely sufiicient for three days. Their joy may be 

 imagined when, after a few versts' travelling, they fell in with Matiuschkin and 

 his party, bringing with them an abundant supply of provisions of all kinds. 



To leave nothing undone which could possibly be effected, Wrangell ad- 



