126 SOUTH AGAIN : NEW ZEALAND AND THE CAPE 
twenty-four hours, till compelled by the approach of winter 
to turn north and then east again, through the endless floes, 
making for the Falkland Islands, which lie to the east of 
Cape Horn. 
But this was not the last of their adventures. They had 
recrossed the Antarctic Circle and hoped to have got clear of 
ice, when at midday on March 12, 1842, in the midst of a fierce 
storm, a great berg appeared ahead, and in trying to weather 
it the Terror collided with the Erehus, carrying away her 
bowsprit and foretop-mast. For nearly ten minutes the two 
ships lay interlocked, drifting down upon the berg and the 
breakers, 'each ship, as it rose on the great waves, threatening 
to send the other to the bottom. Breaking at last from this 
disastrous embrace, the Terror was seen to run before the wind 
and disappear beyond the lee end of the berg. The Erehus, 
disabled by fallen spars, was drifted down on the berg. For 
three-quarters of an hour she lay among the breakers, striking 
her masts against the berg as she rolled, and lashed by the 
spray falling back from the ice cliffs. But perfect discipline 
was maintained. At last the hamper was cleared, the main- 
sails were loosed, and the ship slowly crept from her perilous 
position by the desperate expedient of a ' sternboard,' i.e. sail- 
ing stern foremost down wind, her yardarms scraping along 
the berg, from which she was only held off by the strength 
of the undertow. Clearing the berg, they found themselves 
running upon another, the passage between being but thrice 
the ship's breadth. It took all the Captain's skill and all 
the crew's steadiness to get the ship's head round into the 
channel. Once through, however, they w^re safe in smooth 
water under the lee of the berg, and there, to the great relief 
of all, found the Terror awaiting them in anxious suspense. 
Next morning, viewing the long line of bergs that showed 
this sole passage of escape. Captain Ross was inclined to re- 
gard the collision as a blessing of Providence, albeit somewhat 
rudely administered. It had turned them sharply off their 
original course, which would have spelt worse disaster, to the 
only practicable place of escape. The sailors were indefatigable. 
In three days, as they ran before the wind, repairs were effected, 
