alarming a degree, as to warn us that it
would not be safe to lighten her much more in her present insecure
situation. One of our bergs also shifted its position by this pressure,
so as to weaken our confidence in the pier-heads of our intended basin;
and a long "tongue" of one of them forcing itself under the Hecla's
forefoot, while the drifting ice was also pressing her forcibly from
astern, she once more sewed three or four feet forward at low water, and
continued to do so, notwithstanding repeated endeavours to haul her off,
for four successive tides, the ice remaining so close and so much
doubled under the ship, as to render it impossible to move her a single
inch. Notwithstanding the state of the ice, however, we did not remain
idle on the 8th, all hands being employed in unrigging the Fury, and
landing all her spars, sails, booms, boats, and other top weight.

The ice still continuing very close on the 9th, all hands were employed
in attempting, by saws and axes, to clear the Hecla, which still
grounded on the tongue of ice every tide. After four hours' labour, they
succeeded in making four or five feet of room astern, when the ship
suddenly slid down off the tongue with considerable force, and became
once more afloat. As it very opportunely happened, the external ice
slackened to the distance of about a hundred yards outside of us on the
morning of the 10th, enabling us, by a most tedious and laborious
operation, to clear the ice out of our basin piece by piece. Our next
business was to tighten the cables sufficiently by means of purchases,
and to finish the floating of them in the manner and for the purpose
before described. After this had been completed, the ships had only a
few feet in length, and nothing in breadth to spare, but we had now
great hopes of going on with our work with increased confidence and
security. The Fury, which was placed inside, had something less than
eighteen feet at low water; the Hecla lay in four fathoms, the bottom
being strewed with large and small fragments of limestone.

While thus employed in securing the ships, the smoothness of the water
enabled us to see, in some degree, the nature of the Fury's damage; and
it may be conceived how much pain it occasioned us plainly to discover
that both the sternpost and forefoot were broken and turned up on one
side with the pressure. We also could perceive, as far as we were able
to see along the main keel, that it was much torn, and we