Laborious as this part of the operation had been, we soon found it
likely to prove the least troublesome of the whole; for, on
endeavouring to pull out the pieces in the manner at first
intended, every effort failed, till at length we were reduced to
the necessity of cutting each block diagonally before it could be
moved from its place. After a week's experience, we also learned
that much time had been lost in completing the whole of the
lateral cuts at once; for these, partly from frost, and partly by
the closing together of the sides of the canal, all required
sawing a second, and in some places even a third time. It was
surprising, also, to see how powerful a resistance was occasioned
by the "sludge" produced in sawing, or, as the sailors called it,
the "sawdust," continuing in the cut, and appearing to act, like
oil interposed between two plates of glass, in keeping the masses
united. In some cases, also, a saw was squeezed so tight by the
pressure of the ice in the cut, that it became necessary to enter
a second in order to release it, by sawing out a circular plug of
ice completely round it. Fatiguing as this work proved to the men,
I directed it to be continued to-day, the sea remaining so open on
the outside as to give every encouragement to our exertions.
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