CH. LI] 
jRoss y s Second Voyage 
419 
becoming ice as it touched the deck. Sir James would 
not turn back, and on the 28th they reached a latitude 
of 78 0 10' S. The great ice barrier was in sight; not so 
high as the part they had seen the previous year, but 
more irregular. 
The season was advanced and it became necessary to 
give up further exploration and turn the ships' heads in 
a northerly direction. On the 1st March a magnificent 
range of icebergs was in sight, extending in an unbroken 
chain as far as the eye could discern from the masthead. 
On the 4th a furious gale was encountered and on the 
12th several bergs were again seen during thick weather. 
There were constant squalls of snow concealing the bergs 
from view. Suddenly a large berg was seen ahead, and 
quite close. The Erebus was hauled to the wind on the 
port tack with the expectation of being able to weather it. 
At that moment the Terror came in sight running down 
upon her consort. It was impossible for her to clear 
both the berg and the Erebus, so that collision was in- 
evitable. The Erefots hove all aback to diminish the 
violence of the shock, but the concussion was terrific 
nevertheless. Bowsprit and fore-topmast were carried 
away and the ships, hanging together, dashed against 
each other with fearful violence. The Terror's anchor 
and cat-head were carried away, the yard-arms came in 
contact at every roll, smashing the booms and boom 
irons. All this time there was a heavy sea, and both 
ships were drifting on the berg. The men behaved 
splendidly when ordered up to loose the main topsail. 
Sir James resolved to brace the yards bye, and haul the 
main tack on board, sharp aback, an expedient that had 
never before been resorted to in such weather. It was 
three quarters of an hour before this could be done. 
The ship gathered stern way, plunging her stern into the 
sea and washing away the gig and quarter boats, while 
her lower yard arms actually scraped the rugged face of 
the berg. In a few minutes the ship reached the iceberg's 
western end, the under-tow alone preventing her from 
being dashed to pieces against it. No sooner had the ship 
cleared it than another iceberg was seen astern, against 
which the ship was running. The space between the 
bergs did not exceed three times the breadth of the ship. 
27 — 2 
