clear to admit of our seeing to the distance of several miles, so that we proceeded without hazard, and with more than usual comfort, until 8 a.m. the Feb. 8.following day, when the wind, which had fallen to a light breeze, suddenly shifted to the westward, and afterwards to the N. W., bringing with it the common accompaniments of fog and snow. As no opportunity was to be lost of making even a few miles of southing, all sail was made on the ships, and, for the first time since our release from the pack, we had every studding-sail set. Our satisfaction was, however, of short duration, for during a partial clearing of the weather at 4 p.m. we observed the pack ahead of us, and the wind backing to the westward at the same time obliged us to stand to the northward on the port tack, to increase our distance from the lee ice, and to get clear of the heavy loose fragments by which we were surrounded.
During the day we passed a berg whose diameter measured nearly four miles; doubtless the same we saw on the 13th of February last year, in latitude 76° 11′ and 172° 7′ W.[1], with which all its dimensions accorded. Its position to-day was 70° 30′ S. and 173° 10′ W., from which we may assume that its rate of drift to the southward averaged about one mile per diem.
Feb. 9.With a strong breeze from the north-west in the morning, and westward in the evening, we beat- ↑ See [[../../Volume 1/Chapter 8#240|Vol. I. p. 240.]]
