ship almost surrounded with compact ice, and no great prospect of advancing much further to the northward. As such, the usual time for the commencement of the southern fishing being near, we tacked, and stood to the south-west, expecting in that direction to gain the open sea, near the place where we entered; but instead of this, we got more and more involved, and found the ice quite impervious in the N. NE. E. SE. S. SW. W. and all round as far as the NW. the points intermediate between NW. and N. being the only practicable tract. We were therefore obliged to stand back to the N., until we rounded a point of ice; then, after steering E. SE. and S. a distance of twenty or twenty-five miles, we were enabled to haul out to the SW., a course which, if my orders had been obeyed, should have led us out from our position in the morning."
Proceeding on our south-west course, we passed through occasional streams of ice, of considerable extent, and a few fragments of ice-bergs, one of which was particularly remarkable, being upwards of one hundred and fifty feet in length, and fifty feet from the surface of the water, having apertures like windows. Another at a distance resembled a tower, seated upon an immense base, of very considerable height, at least seventy feet, of a most beautiful berylline blue, and nearly perpendicular.
May 26. We sailed into a bight of about ten miles across, surrounded on twenty-four
