454 
THE VOYAGE OF THE VEGA. 
[chap. 
and the Vega steamed on, but in a depth of only 6 to 8 metres. 
As the Vegas draught is from 4'8 to 5 metres, we had only a 
little water under the keel, and that among ice in quite unknown 
waters. About twenty kilometres from the anchorage, we met 
with a belt of ice through which we could make our way though 
only with great difficulty, thanks to the Vegas strong bow ena¬ 
bling her to withstand the violent concussions. Our voyage was 
then continued, often in yet shallower water than before, until 
the vessel, at 8 o’clock in the morning, struck on a ground 
ice foot. The tide was falling, and on that account it was not 
until next morning that we could get off, after a considerable 
portion of the ground-ice, on whose foot the Vega had run up, 
had been hewn away with axes and ice-hatchets. Some attempts 
were made to blast the ice with gunpowder, but they were un¬ 
successful. For this purpose dynamite is much more efficacious, 
and this explosive ought therefore always to form part of the 
equipment in voyages in which belts of ice have to be broken 
through. 
On the 19th we continued our voyage in the same way as 
before, in still and for the most part shallow water near the 
coast, between high masses of ground-ice, which frequently had 
the most picturesque forms. Later in the day we again fell in 
with very low ice formed in rivers and shut-in inlets of the sea, 
and came into slightly salt water having a temperature above 
the freezing-point. 
After having been moored during the night to a large ground- 
ice, the Vega continued her course on the 20th September 
almost exclusively among low, dirty ice, which had not been 
much pressed together during the preceding winter. This ice 
was not so deep in the water as the blue ground-ice, and could 
therefore drift nearer the coast, a great inconvenience for our 
vessel, which drew so much water. We soon came to a place 
where the ice was packed so close to land that an open channel 
only to metres deep remained close to the shore. We 
