106 
A VOYAGE TO SPITZBEEGEN. 
such as these. To drive a ship through such waters as 
these would be sure to end in disaster, if attempted 
by sailors who had nbt been reared in this kind of 
service. We noticed that the blows were delivered 
upon the angles and corners of the ice rather than 
upon the surface directly. Should the vessel strike 
against ice aground, of course the shock is as great as if 
a rock was ahead. We got through the first long neck 
of ice into clear water, only to commence another 
attack. By this time we are grown well acquainted 
with the details of the operation, and we drive head¬ 
long into another pack. The fog now grows so dense, 
we are quite unable to advance. Fortunately for us, 
the calm here was perfect, and the swell of the sea 
had quite subsided. Gradually the wind rises, and 
there being no prospect of any further progress in our 
intended direction, we turn the schooner’s head to¬ 
wards the south, and a lane of water having in the 
meantime opened in the direction we were about to 
sail, we took advantage of it, and the schooner stood 
out towards the open sea once more, the walls of ice 
on either hand protecting us as we went. 
Early on the 6th, our second harpooner went away 
in the whale-boats, and soon returned with our first 
seal; in the mean time, we amused ourselves by making 
short excursions from the schooner in quest of loom 
