408 
APPENDIX. 
Meanwhile, we progressed but very slowly. On 
the 10th of July we were still far from the meridian 
of Jan Mayen, when we suddenly found ourselves 
surrounded by a fog, and at the bottom of one of the 
bays formed by the field ice. We tacked immediately, 
and put the ship about, but the wind had accumulated 
the ice behind us. At a distance the circle that en¬ 
closed us seemed compact and without egress. We 
considered this as the most critical moment of our 
expedition. Having tried this icy barrier at several 
points, we found a narrow and tortuous channel, into 
which we ventured; and it was not till after an hour 
of anxieties that we got a view of the open sea, and of 
a passage into it. From this moment we were able to 
coast along the Banquise without interruption. 
On the 11th of July at 6 A.M. we reached, at last, the 
meridian of Jan Mayen, at about eighteen leagues 1 dis¬ 
tance from the southern part of that island, but we saw 
the ice-field stretching out before us as far as the eye 
could reach ; hence it became evident that Jan Mayen 
was blocked up by the ice, at least along its south coast. 
To ascertain whether it might still be accessible from 
the north, it would have been necessary to have at¬ 
tempted a circuit to the eastward, the possible extent 
of which could not be estimated; moreover, we had 
consumed half our coals, and had lost all hope of being 
rejoined by the “ Saxon.” Thus forced to give up 
any further attempts in that direction, Commodore de 
la Ronci&re, having got the ship clear of the floating 
ice, took a W. S. W. course, in the direction of 
Eeykjavik. 
The instant the u Heine Hor tense” assumed this new 
course, a telegraphic signal—as had been previously 
1 I think there must be some mistake here; when we parted 
company with the “Reine Ilortense” we were still upwards of 100 
miles distant from the southern extremity of Jan Mayen. 
