ORDER FOR RETURN. 185 
the cabin hatch, and, hut for our strong hows, seven 
and a half solid feet, would have stove us in. Anoth- 
er time, we cleared a tongue of the main pack by rid- 
ing it down at eight knots. Commodore Austin seems 
caught hy the closing fioes. This is really sharp work. 
" 4 P.M. We continued heating toward Griffith's 
Island, till, hy doubling a tongue of ice, we were able 
to force our way. The English seemed to watch our 
movements, and almost to follow in our wake, till we 
came to a comparatively open space, about the area of 
Washington Square, where we stood off and on, the 
ice being too close upon the eastern end of Griffith's 
Island to permit us to pass. Our companions in this 
little vacancy were Captain Ommanney's Assistance, 
Osborne's steam tender the Pioneer, and Kater's steam- 
er the Intrepid. Commodore Austin's vessel was to 
the southward, entangled in the moving ice, but mo- 
mentarily nearing the open leads. 
" While thus boxing about on one of our tacks, we 
neared the north edge of our little opening, and were 
hailed by the Assistance with the glad intelligence of 
the Rescue close under the island. Our captain, who 
was at his usual post, conning the ship from the fore- 
top-sail yard, made her out at the same time, and im- 
mediately determined upon boring the intervening ice. 
This was done successfully, the brig bearing the hard 
knocks nobly. Strange to say, the English vessels, 
now joined by Austin, followed in our wake — a com- 
pliment, certainly, to De Haven's ice-mastership. 
"We were no sooner through, than signal was made 
to the Hescue to ' cast off,' and our ensign was run 
up from the peak : the captain had determined upon 
attempting a return to the United States." 
It could not be my office to discuss the policy of 
