AWKWARD COMPLICATION . 
177 
we do ? Had we a steamer, there would be little diffi¬ 
culty in forcing a passage out, but this southerly gale 
may so encumber us with ice we shall find ourselves, 
after all, but farther away from the pack. 
We do all that can be done. We press on all sail, 
and fight our way to the south-east. The trial is 
too much for us. The result is not as we had ex¬ 
pected. Had we gone towards the north-east, or 
had we remained as we were, we might have done 
well; we certainly would have done better. Had 
we gone to the north-east, when we had the oppor¬ 
tunity of doing, all would have been well with us. 
Had we even remained, the temporary difficulty would 
have adjusted itself; and our little vessel, under 
the shelter of some protecting “ point-ends/’ would 
have rested securely enough, while we could have 
found time to enjoy the pursuit of the game which 
abounded in the neighbourhood. 
It happened otherwise. Experience, however labo¬ 
riously obtained, is of no avail, if it is not accompanied 
with sterling common sense; and we sail to the 
south-east, and fall into the open trap. We cannot 
get through, and the ice surges backwards and for¬ 
wards for miles between us and the open sea. Large 
streams of ice scud past, and we tack through the best 
openings we can find ; the swell lifts the little vessel 
N 
