The weather was foggy for some hours in the morning of the 11th,
but cleared up in the afternoon as the sun acquired power. The
wind increased to a fresh gale from the eastward at nine P.M.,
being the second time that it had done so while we had been lying
at this station; a circumstance which we were the more inclined to
notice, as the easterly winds had hitherto been more faint and
less frequent than those from the westward. In this respect,
therefore, we considered ourselves unfortunate, as experience had
already shown us that none but a westerly wind ever produced upon
this coast, or, indeed, on the southern coast of any of the North
Georgian Islands, the desired effect of clearing the shores of
ice.
The gale continued strong during the night, and the ice quite
stationary. Not a pool of clear water could be seen in any
direction, except just under the lee of our point, where there was
a space large enough to contain half a dozen sail of ships, till
about noon, when the whole closed in upon us without any apparent
cause, except that the wind blew in irregular puffs about that
time, and at one P.M. it was alongside. The ship was placed in the
most advantageous manner for taking the beach, or, rather, the
shelf of submarine ice, and the rudder again unshipped and hung
across the stem.
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