ch. xxi] The Scoresbys 195 
which must proceed from an open sea either to the north 
or to the south. The distance he had penetrated into 
the ice and the unmixed ice blink to the south, convinced 
him that it did not come from that quarter. With this 
conviction came the resolution to push on through the 
formidable body of consolidated ice before him. Every 
effort was made. It was then that Scoresby invented the 
practice of sallying, which consisted in the whole crew 
running across from one side of the ship to the other in 
order to make her roll, and so break up the ice close 
round her. Then boats were lowered quickly from the 
bowsprit to break up the ice ahead. When a lane of 
water was formed, there was tracking and towing. All 
this hard work and perseverance was finally rewarded, 
and at length an open sea was reached, bounded in the 
north by the solid polar pack. On the 24th May the 
latitude was found to be 8i° 30' in 19 0 E. Though the 
ice was fixed and solid to the north, there was an open 
sea, with a water sky, from E.N.E. to S.E. This is the 
furthest north ever reached by a sailing ship on the 
Spitsbergen meridians 1 . 
With the distinction of this highest latitude Captain 
Scoresby returned with a full ship. After four more years 
of full ships, he resigned the command of the Resolution 
to his son in 1810. The elder Scoresby lived on until 
1829 as a respected citizen of Whitby and saw his son's 
successful career not only as a whaling captain, but also 
as a universally esteemed man of science. 
The younger Scoresby went to the fishery for three 
years in the Resolution and in 18 13 was transferred to 
the Esk, a larger ship. The dangers from the ice were 
far more serious than those to which men were exposed 
in capturing whales. Many ships were lost in this way, 
and the risks run are well exemplified in Scoresby's 
account of the perilous position of the Esk in 1816. It 
was blowing hard with a heavy sea when the vessel 
came upon the ice on the 30th April. It freshened to a 
furious gale, the sea mountains high with huge blocks 
of ice tossing in the foam. Scoresby tried to wear ship, 
but she failed to go round, and fell off to leeward with 
terrible force. She continued to beat against the ice 
1 The Swedish steamer Sophia reached 8i° 42' in 1868. 
13 — z 
