76 
ICE PRESSURE. 
to describe, I could not help being struck by the com¬ 
posed and manly demeanor of my comrades. The tur¬ 
moil of ice under a heavy sea often conveys the im¬ 
pression of danger when the reality is absent; but in 
this fearful passage, the parting of our hawsers, the 
loss of our anchors, the abrupt crushing of our stoven 
bulwarks, and the actual deposit of ice upon our decks, 
would have tried the nerves of the most experienced 
icemen. All—officers and men—worked alike. Upon 
each occasion of collision with the ice which formed 
our lee-coast, efforts were made to carry out lines; 
and some narrow escapes were incurred, by the zeal of 
the parties leading them into positions of danger. Mr. 
Bonsall avoided being crushed by leaping to a float¬ 
ing fragment; and no less than four of our men at 
one time were carried down by the drift, and could 
only be recovered by a relief party after the gale had 
subsided. 
As our brig, borne on by the ice, commenced her 
ascent of the berg, the suspense was oppressive. The 
immense blocks piled against her, range upon range, 
pressing themselves under her keel and throwing her 
over upon her side, till, urged by the successive accumu¬ 
lations, she rose slowly and as if with convulsive efforts 
along the sloping wall. Still there was no relaxation 
of the impelling force. Shock after shock, jarring her 
to her very centre, she continued to mount steadily on 
her precarious cradle. But for the groaning of her 
timbers and the heavy sough of the floes, we might 
have heard a pin drop. And then, as she settled 
