At Four In The Morning On The 17th, Stood Again To The South; But Was Again
Obliged To Bear Up
On account of the ice, along the side of which we
steered betwixt E. and S.S.W., hauling into
Every bay or opening, in hopes
of finding a passage to the south. But we found every where the ice closed.
We had a gentle gale at N.W. with showers of snow. At noon we were, by
observation, in the latitude of 55 deg. 16' S. In the evening the weather was
clear and serene. In the course of this day we saw many whales, one seal,
penguins, some of the white birds, another sort of peterel, which is brown
and white, and not much unlike a pintado; and some other sorts already
known. We found the skirts of the loose ice to be more broken than usual;
and it extended some distance beyond the main field, insomuch that we
sailed amongst it the most part of the day; and the high ice islands
without us were innumerable. At eight o'clock we sounded, but found no
ground with 250 fathoms of line. After this we hauled close upon a wind to
the northward, as we could see the field of ice extend as far as N.E. But
this happened not to be the northern point; for at eleven o'clock we were
obliged to tack to avoid it.
At two o'clock the next morning we stood again to the northward, with the
wind at N.W. by W., thinking to weather the ice upon this tack; on which we
stood but two hours, before we found ourselves quite imbayed, being then in
latitude 55 deg. 8', longitude 24 deg. 3'. The wind veering more to the north, we
tacked and stood to the westward under all the sail we could carry, having
a fresh breeze and clear weather, which last was of short duration. For at
six o'clock it became hazy, and soon after there was thick fog; the wind
veered to the N.E., freshened and brought with it snow and sleet, which
froze on the rigging as it fell. We were now enabled to get clear of the
field of ice: but at the same time we were carried in amongst the ice
islands, in a manner equally dangerous, and which with much difficulty we
kept clear of.
Dangerous as it is to sail among these floating rocks (if I may be allowed
to call them so) in a thick fog, this, however, is preferable to being
entangled with immense fields of ice under the same circumstances. The
great danger to be apprehended in this latter case, is the getting fast in
the ice; a situation which would be exceedingly alarming. I had two men on
board that had been in the Greenland trade; the one of them in a ship that
lay nine weeks, and the other in one that lay six weeks, fast in this kind
of ice, which they called packed ice.
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