. Arctic explorations: the second Grinnell expedition in search of Sir John Franklin, 1853, '54, '55. atal to us at any time. But McGary handled thatwhalers marvel, the long steering-oar, with admirableskill. None of us could pretend to take his place. Fortwenty-two unbroken hours he stuck to his post with-out relaxing his attention or his efforts. I was not prepared for such a storm. I do not thinkI have seen a worse sea raised by the northers of theGulf of Mexico. At last the Avind hauled to the east-ward, and we were glad to drive before it for thein-shore floes. We had passed several bergs
. Arctic explorations: the second Grinnell expedition in search of Sir John Franklin, 1853, '54, '55. atal to us at any time. But McGary handled thatwhalers marvel, the long steering-oar, with admirableskill. None of us could pretend to take his place. Fortwenty-two unbroken hours he stuck to his post with-out relaxing his attention or his efforts. I was not prepared for such a storm. I do not thinkI have seen a worse sea raised by the northers of theGulf of Mexico. At last the Avind hauled to the east-ward, and we were glad to drive before it for thein-shore floes. We had passed several bergs; butthe sea dashed against their sides so furiously as to FAST TO A FLOE. 325 negative all hope of protection at their base: thepack or floe, so much feared before, was now lookedto for a refuge, I remember well our anxiety as we entered theloose streams of drift after four hours scudding, andour relief when we felt their influence upon the fastened to an old floe, not fifty yards in dia-meter, and, with the weather-surf breaking over ourheads, rode out the storm under a warp and CHAPTER XXV. WORKING ON—A BOAT NIP—ICE-BARRIER—THE BARRIER PACK—PROGRESS HOPELESS—NORTHUMBERLAND ISLAND—NORTHUMBER-LAND GLACIER—ICE-CASCADES—NEVE. The obstacle we had now to encounter was the packthat stretched between us and the south. When the storm abated, we commenced boring intoit,— slow work at the best of times; but my com-panions encountered it with a persevering activityquite as admirable as their fortitude in danger. Ithad its own hazards too; and more than once itlooked as if we were permanently beset. I myselfknew that we might rely on the southerly wind toliberate us from such an imprisonment; but I sawthat the men thought otherwise, as the ice-fields closedaround us and the horizon showed an unchanging circleof ice. We were still laboring on, hardly past the middleof the bay, when the floes began to relax. On Sunday,the 23d of July, the whole aspect aro
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