178 
A VOYAGE TO S.PITZBEBGEN. 
aloft and brings her down upon a great piece of ice 
with a force which sends her shivering from stem to 
stern, but her stanch timbers are equal to the shock, 
and she seems none the worse. 
Now we miss stays and make a stern board, losing 
our headway. This endangers our rudder, but it is 
stoutly built, and resists the hardest knocks. We get 
her round, and run at high speed between two blocks 
of ice that threaten to crush us up. 
This danger being averted, there is a pause in which 
every heart feels grateful to a merciful Providence for 
an escape so unexpected. We were now forced to 
make fast to some ice, and in a short time we were in 
a sea of water as calm as a pond ; the ice closing us in 
on all sides was like a low wall opposed to the outside 
waves. Weary with labour and watching, our sleep is 
now only disturbed by an occasional trembling of the 
ship’s timbers as she gets a squeeze from the ice press¬ 
ing upon her sides. For the next seven days we are 
beset. The men pass the time pleasantly enough with 
various extemporised games, and with keeping a good 
look-out for game. We go in quest of snow-birds, 
and one afternoon we see the curious and good- 
humoured antics of a mother bear playing with her 
cubs. These savage animals are not devoid of 
tender affection towards their offspring in times of 
