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loose ice. The Fury was detained some time by a quantity of loose ice, which had wedged itself in in such a manner as to leave her no room to move outward; but she arrived about seven o'clock, when both ships were made fast in the best berths we could find, but they were excluded from their intended place by the quantity of ice which had fixed itself there. Within twenty minutes after our arrival, the whole body of ice again came in, entirely closing up the shore, so that our moving proved most opportune

CHAPTER VI.

Formation of a Basin for heaving the Fury down.-Landing of the Fury's Stores, and other Preparations.-The Ships secured within the Basin.-Impediments from the Pressure of the Ice.-Fury hove down.-Securities of the Basin destroyed by a Gale of Wind.-Preparations to tow the Fury out.-Hecla Re-equipped, and obliged to put to Sea.-Fury again driven on Shore.-Rejoin the Fury; and find it necessary finally to abandon her.

As there was now no longer room for floating the ice out of the proposed basin, all hands were immediately employed in preparing the intended securities against the incursions of the ice. These consisted of anchors carried to the beach, having bower-cables attached to them, passing quite round the grounded masses, and thus enclosing a small space of just sufficient size to admit both ships. The cables we proposed floating by means of the two hand-masts and some empty casks lashed to VOL. II.-N

them as buoys, with the intention of thus making them receive the pressure of the ice a foot or two below the surface of the water. By uncommon exertions on the part of the officers and men, this laborious work was completed before night as far as was practicable until the loose ice should set out; and all the tents were set up on the beach for the reception of the Fury's stores.

The ice remaining quite close on the 6th, every individual in both ships, with the exception of those at the pumps, was employed in landing provisions from the Fury, together with the spars, boats, and everything from off her upper deck. On the following day, the ice remaining as before, the work was continued without intermission, and a great quantity of things landed. The armorer was also set to work on the beach in forging bolts for the martingales of the outriggers. In short, every living creature among us was somehow or other employed, not even excepting our dogs, which. were set to drag up the stores on the beach; so that our little dock-yard soon exhibited the most animated scene imaginable. The Fury was thus so much lightened in the course of the day, that two pumps were now nearly sufficient to keep her free, and this number continued requisite until she was hove down.

At night, just as the people were going to rest, the ice began to move to the southward, and soon after came in towards the shore, pressing the Fury over on her side to so alarming a degree, as to warn us that it would not be safe to lighten her much more in her present insecure situation. One of our bergs also shifted its position by this press

ure, so as to weaken our confidence in the pierheads of our intended basin; and a long "tongue" of one of them forcing itself under the Hecla's forefoot, while the drifting ice was also pressing her forcibly from astern, she once more sewed three or four feet forward at low water, and continued to do so, notwithstanding repeated endeavours to haul her off, for four successive tides, the ice remaining so close and so much doubled under the ship, as to render it impossible to move her a single inch. Notwithstanding the state of the ice, however, we did not remain idle on the 8th, all hands being employed in unrigging the Fury, and landing all her spars, sails, booms, boats, and other top weight.

The ice still continuing very close on the 9th, all hands were employed in attempting, by saws and axes, to clear the Hecla, which still grounded on the tongue of ice every tide. After four hours' labour, they succeeded in making four or five feet of room astern, when the ship suddenly slid down off the tongue with considerable force, and became once more afloat. As it very opportunely happened, the external ice slackened to the distance of about a hundred yards outside of us on the morning of the 10th, enabling us, by a most tedious and laborious operation, to clear the ice out of our basin piece by piece. Our next business was to tighten the cables sufficiently by means of purchases, and to finish the floating of them in the manner and for the purpose before described. After this had been completed, the ships had only a few feet in length, and nothing in breadth to spare, but we had now great hopes of going on with our work with increased confidence and security. The Fury,

which was placed inside, had something less than eighteen feet at low water; the Hecla lay in four fathoms, the bottom being strewed with large and small fragments of limestone.

While thus employed in securing the ships, the smoothness of the water enabled us to see, in some degree, the nature of the Fury's damage; and it may be conceived how much pain it occasioned us plainly to discover that both the sternpost and forefoot were broken and turned up on one side with the pressure. We also could perceive, as far as we were able to see along the main keel, that it was much torn, and we had therefore much reason to conclude that the damage would altogether prove very serious. We also discovered that several feet of the Hecla's false keel were torn away abreast of the forechains, in consequence of her grounding forward so frequently.

Being favoured with fine weather, we continued our work very quickly, so that on the 12th every cask was landed, and also the powder; and the spare sails and clothing put on board the Hecla. The coals and preserved meats were the principal things now remaining on board the Fury, and these we continued landing by every method we could devise as the most expeditious.

Early on the morning of the 14th, the ice slackening a little in our neighbourhood, we took advan. tage of it, though the people were much fagged, to tighten the cables, which had stretched and yielded considerably by the late pressure. It was well that we did so; for in the course of this day we were several times interrupted in our work by the ice coming with a tremendous strain on the north ca

bles, the wind blowing strong from the N.N.W., and the whole "pack" outside of us setting rapidly to the southward. Indeed, notwithstanding the recent tightening and readjustment of the cables, the bight was pressed in so much as to force the Fury against the berg astern of her twice in the course of the day.

From this trial of the efficacy of our means of security, it was plain that the Fury could not possibly be hove down under circumstances of such frequent and imminent risk: I therefore directed a fourth anchor, with two additional cables, to be carried out, with the hope of breaking some of the force of the ice by its offering a more oblique resistance than the other, and thus, by degrees, turn. ing the direction of the pressure from the ships. We had scarcely completed this new defence, when the largest floe we had seen since leaving Port Bowen came sweeping along the shore, having a motion to the southward of not less than a mile and a half an hour; and a projecting point of it, just grazing our outer berg, threatened to overturn it, and would certainly have dislodged it from its situa. tion but for the cable recently attached to it.

The Fury being completely cleared at an early hour on the 16th, we were all busily employed in "winding" the ship, and in preparing the outriggers, shores, purchases, and additional rigging. Though we purposely selected the time of high water for turning the ship round, we had scarcely a foot of space to spare for doing it; and indeed, as it was, •her forefoot touched the ground, and loosened the broken part of the wood so much as to enable us to pull it up with ropes, when we found the frag

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