DANGEROUS GALE. 
301 
innately succeeded in balancing himself on the 
changeable summit until it attained an equili¬ 
brium. But his companion fell between the two 
masses, and would probably have been instantly 
crushed or suffocated, had not the efflux of water, 
produced by the rising of the submerged parts of 
the ice, hurried him from between them, almost 
alongside of a boat that was waiting near the 
place. 
r Xhc rain of the fore-part of the day, gave place, 
about noon, to hail, which was so sharp that it 
was scarcely possible to face to windward; and 
this was succeeded with an intermixture of soft 
flaky snow, that covered the deck to the depth 
of several inches. The wind, in the mean time, 
became more and more fierce, until it blew almost 
a hurricane. So long as the floe to which we were 
moored maintained its position, we rode in toler¬ 
able safety; but, as the wind increased, it began 
to “ slue” or revolve, until it brought the ship 
alongside of it. As the fierceness of the gale, and 
the thickness of the weather, rendered it impossi¬ 
ble for human exertion or care to keep a ship iii 
safety under-way, surrounded as we were with ice 
in innumerable sheets, we determined to retain 
our hold of the floe as long as practicable ; and we 
were encouraged in this resolution, by observing 
that, about 4 p. m., the revolution of the ice had 
