ately made; but, while the sails were setting,
the ice, which had at first been three quarters of a mile distant from
us, was observed to be closing the shore The ships were cast with all
expedition, in hopes of gaining the broader channel before the ice had
time to shut us up. So rapid, however, was the latter in this its sudden
movement, that we had but just got the ships' heads the right way when
the ice came boldly in upon us, being doubtless set in motion by a very
sudden freshening of the wind almost to a gale in the course of a few
minutes. The ships were now almost instantly beset, and in such a manner
as to be literally helpless and unmanageable.

The sails were, however, kept set; and, as the body of ice was setting
to the southward withal, we went with it some little distance in that
direction. The Hecla, after thus driving, and now and then forcing her
way through the ice, in all about three quarters of a mile, quite close
to the shore, at length struck the ground forcibly several times in the
space of a hundred yards, and being then brought up by it, remained
immoveable, the depth of water under her keel abaft being sixteen feet,
or about a foot less than she drew. The Fury, continuing to drive, was
now irresistibly carried past us, and we escaped, only by a few feet,
the damage invariably occasioned by ships coming in contact under such
circumstances. She had, however, scarcely passed us a hundred yards,
when it was evident, by the ice pressing her in, as well as along the
shore, that she must soon be stopped like the Hecla; and having gone
about two hundred yards farther, she was observed to receive a severe
pressure from a large floe-piece forcing her directly against a grounded
mass of ice upon the beach. After setting to the southward for an hour
or two longer, the ice became stationary, no open water being anywhere
visible from the masthead, and the pressure on the ships remaining
undiminished during the day. Just as I had ascertained the utter
impossibility of moving the Hecla a single foot, and that she must lie
aground fore and aft as soon as the tide fell, I received a note from
Captain Hoppner, informing me that the Fury had been so severely
"nipped" and strained as to leak a good deal, apparently about four
inches an hour; that she was still heavily pressed both upon the ground
and against the large mass of ice within her; that the rudder was at
present very awkwardly situated; and that one boat