LAST VOYAGE OF CAPT. ROSS. 
167 
An accident occurred on the 12th, which was very nearly being 
Attended with the most serious consequences : a number of articles 
had been taken out of the ship and placed on the ice, preparatory 
to their being taken on shore, and not the slightest doubt was 
entertained that the ice was too firmly set to endanger the safety 
of the things. The wind on the preceeding day had been blowing 
a gale from the westward, but still it did not appear to have any 
influence on the ice, but early on the morning of the 12th, the 
ice gave a most heavy shock which made a fissure in it of nearly 
a foot in breadth, by which the water came pouring through, 
covering the ice for a considerable distance, and overflowing 
every thing that had been placed upon it, especially the different 
parts of the engine. Strong apprehensions were now entertained 
that the things were irrecoverably lost, as it was most probable 
that the water would not recede before it was frozen into a solid 
body of ice, from which it would be impossible to extract the 
articles before they were rendered wholly useless. It was how¬ 
ever, not the peril which attended the present accident which 
excited in the minds of the officers so great a degree of alarm, but 
it was die fear that they might be frequently visited by these 
irruptions of the water, and the vessel might be then so nipped with 
the ice, as to render her wholly unseaworthy. It was a circum¬ 
stance which had never occurred on any of the preceeding expe¬ 
ditions, and it came upon them so suddenly, and by surprise, 
that no measures could be taken to avert the consequences of so 
serious a calamity. The consequences of this disaster, were how¬ 
ever in the present instance, not so extensive as was originally 
apprehended, for although the water did not wholly recede, yet 
it so far subsided, as to enable the crew to get possession of the 
things which had been submerged, and they were without loss 
of time placed beyond the reach of a similar accident, It must 
however be observed that some of the things were lost. 
The 13th of November was the last day that the sun was seen 
above the horizon; the sea around then presented one unbroken 
surface of ice, over which excursions of one or two miles distance 
were made—all around was bleak and dreary, and the only in¬ 
dication of the presence of man, was the spot where the ship lay I 
