The
weather being fortunately not so thick as to prevent our still
seeing her at that distance, the quartermaster was directed to
stand aft, near the taffrail, and to keep her constantly astern of
us, by which means we contrived to steer a tolerably straight
course to the westward. The Griper, on the other hand, naturally
kept the Hecla right ahead; and thus, however ridiculous it may
appear, it is nevertheless true, that we steered one ship entirely
by the other for a distance of ten miles out of sixteen and a
half, which we sailed between one and eleven P.M.
The wind died away on the morning of the 1st of September, and the
fog was succeeded by snow and sleet, which still rendered the
atmosphere extremely thick. At a quarter before four A.M., I was
informed by the officer of the watch that a breeze had sprung up,
and that there was very little ice near the ships. Anxious to take
advantage of these favourable circumstances, I directed all sail
to be made to the westward: there was no difficulty in complying
with the first part of this order; but to ascertain which way the
wind was blowing, and to which quarter of the horizon the ship's
head was to be directed, was a matter of no such easy accomplishment;
nor could we devise any means of determining this question till five
o'clock, when we obtained a sight of the sun through the fog, and
were thus enabled to shape our course, the wind being moderate from
the northward.
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