51 
SURROUNDED BY ICE. 
into contact; and not a drop of water was to be 
Seen from the mast-head. The new ice squeezed 
in some places a dozen thicknesses; and a consi¬ 
derable pressure came upon the ship. 
No alteration took place all the following day; 
excepting the breaking out of a vein of water, 
here and there, at a distance from us. The ice 
immediately around was heavy, compact, and sta¬ 
tionary. Many of the hummocks of the ice were 
at least twenty feet high; and the general thick¬ 
ness of the pieces alongside of the ship w r as from 
twenty to thirty feet. Some of these hummocks 
seemed to be of recent production, and a few; 
of no inconsiderable bulk, were thrown up within 
a mile of where the Baffin lay.—Latitude ob¬ 
served 79° 30'. 
Though a Greenland voyage is perhaps one of 
the most arduous of all maritime adventures, the 
mind of the commander of a whale-ship being 
very rarely free from anxiety; yet, like all other 
occupations at sea, it affords occasional intervals 
of absolute leisure, such as when the attention of 
the captain to the progress of the ship is not re¬ 
quisite, or when, in consequence of calms, con¬ 
trary winds, or other obstructions, the main de¬ 
signs of the voyage cannot be pursued. The im¬ 
moveable state of the Baffin at this time, however 
irksome and productive of anxiety, was such as 
D 2 
