A VOYAGE TO 
15 8 
1779* 
Jw- 
Saturday 24. 
henfions which began to force themfelves on us, at half paft 
four in the afternoon, the weather becoming thick and 
hazy, we loft fight of the Difcovery; hut, that we might he 
in a fituation to afford her every afliftance in our power, we 
kept Handing on clofe by the edge of the ice. At fix, the 
wind happily coming round to the North, gave us fome 
hopes, that the ice might drift away and releafe her; and in 
that cafe, as it was uncertain in what condition fire might 
come out, we kept firing a gun every half hour, in order to 
prevent a feparation. Our apprehenfions for her fafety did 
not ceafe till nine, when we heard her guns in anfwer to 
ours; and foon after, being hailed by her, were informed, 
that upon the change of wind, the ice began to feparate; 
and that, fetting all their fails, they forced a paffage through 
it. We learned farther, that whilft they were encompaffed 
by it, they found the fhip drift, with the main body, to the 
North Eaft, at the rate of half a mile an hour. We were 
forry to find, that the Difcovery had rubbed off a great deal 
of the fheathing from the bows, and was become very leaky, 
from the ftrokes Ihe had received when Ihe fell upon the 
edge of the ice. 
On the 24th, we had frefh breezes from South Weft, with 
hazy weather, and kept running to the South Eaft till eleven 
in the forenoon, when a large body of loofe ice, extending 
from North North Eaft, round by the Eaft, to South South 
Eaft, and to which (though the weather was tolerably clear) 
w r e could fee no end, again obftrufted our courfe. We there¬ 
fore kept working to windward, and at noon, our latitude, 
by obfervation, was 68° 53V longitude 188 0 ; the variation of 
the compafs 22 0 30" Eaft. At four in the afternoon, it be¬ 
came calm, and we hoifted out the boats in purfuit of the 
fea-horfes, which were in prodigious l^erds on every fide of 
us. 
