HISTORY OF TIIE WHALE. 
23 
1st of February they caught a whale, and on the 16th 
a second, which afforded great relief. The sea was not 
sufficiently frozen to prevent enormous icebergs from 
tossing about with thundering noise, and tearing up 
the fields of ice by which the ship was surrounded. 
On the 22d of February, one of uncommon magni- 
tude was seen bearing directly upon their stern, threat- 
ening to crush the ship; whereupon the seamen leaped 
upon the ice, and ran to some distance. The ice- 
berg rolled on with a tremendous crash, breaking the 
field into a thousand fragments, and hiding the ship 
from) view, which they never expected to spe again; 
but providentially it left her uninjured. The mariners 
lost sight of the sun for seventy-live days, during 
which they suffered such severe cold that they could 
not walk the deck five minutes wi hoot being frost- 
bitten. By great good fortune, the body of ice in 
which they were inclosed, drifted to the southward 
about 800 miles, when the weather became more 
moderate. On the 1st of April, they had the good 
fortune to meet the ship Lee, which had just .arrived : 
they were liberally supplied with provisions and every 
necessary to repair the ship, with which they were 
enabled to reach home on the 2d of June. 
