216 
LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 
with some difficulty wound along until we were almost 
abreast of tlie cape, we were stopped dead short by a 
solid rampart of fixed ice, which in one direction leant 
upon the land, and in the other ran away as far as the 
eye could reach into the dusky North. Thus hopelessly 
cut off from all access to the western and better anchor¬ 
age, it only remained to put about, and—running down 
along the land—attempt to reach a kind of open 
roadstead on the eastern side, a little to the south of 
the volcano described by Dr. Scoresby: but in this 
endeavour also we were doomed to be disappointed; for 
after sailing some considerable distance through a field 
of ice, which kept getting more closely packed as we 
pushed further into it, we came upon another barrier 
equally impenetrable, that stretched away from the 
island toward the Southward and Eastward. Under 
these circumstances, the only thing to be done was to 
get back to where the ice was looser, and attempt a 
landing wherever a favourable opening presented itself. 
But even to extricate ourselves from our present position, 
was now no longer of such easy performance. Within 
the last hour the wind had shifted into the North-West ; 
that is to say, it was now blowing right down the 
