This method, which is often adopted by our whalers, has the
obvious advantage of applying the whole united force in separating
the masses of ice which lie in the way of the first ship, allowing
the second, or even third, to follow close astern, with very
little obstruction. In this manner we had advanced about four
miles to the westward by eight P.M., after eleven hours of very
laborious exertion; and having then come to the end of the clear
water, and the weather being again foggy, the ships were secured
in a deep "bight," or bay in a floe, called by the sailors a
"natural dock."
Early on the morning of the 26th there was clear water as far as
we could see to the westward, which, on account of the fog, did
not exceed the distance of three hundred yards. We made sail,
however, and having groped our way for about half a mile, found
the ice once more close in every direction except that in which we
had been sailing, obliging us to make the ships fast to a floe. At
half past three P.M. the weather cleared up, and a few narrow
lanes of water being seen to the westward, every exertion was
immediately made to get into them. On beginning to heave, however,
we found that the "hole" of water in which the Hecla lay was now
so completely enclosed by ice that no passage out of it could be
found.
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