entations of my companions, I caught hold of the
end of a rope, and leaped like a frog from one place to another, until
I reached the firm ice. As the rope was fastened to the two boats,
they were quickly drawn to the spot I had reached, when the men took
out their cargoes and pulled them upon the ice. We found they were so
much injured by striking against the ice, as to need a thorough
overhauling, which we set about without delay. The driftwood, which
lay along the shore in considerable quantities, now stood us in good
need, as by means of it we were enabled to boil our pitch and tar.

"For four long and dreary days had we lain among ice and snow, when a
south wind sprang up, and once more opened a passage for us. We
hastily launched our boats again, and put their cargoes into them; but
hardly had we commenced to row when we found ourselves surrounded by
masses of ice again, and were obliged to pick our way out of them with
great difficulty; at last we reached the open sea once more, and were
able to continue our voyage until the 25th of June, when we were
obliged to cast anchor again near a field of ice. At the same time a
violent storm arose, and drove our miserable crafts to sea, where they
were tossed about in great danger of being dashed to pieces against an
iceberg, or upset by the wind. Our men now employed what little
strength they had left in striving to get back to the land, but as
this could not be done by simple rowing, we ventured to hoist a small
sail, which we had scarcely done when the foremast of the boat I
commanded suddenly broke in two places, and I found myself obliged, in
order to keep up with the shallop, to raise the mainsail, which,
however, I had to lower again immediately, or my boat would have been
inevitably upset.

"We now deemed our destruction inevitable, as the storm of wind, which
had hitherto blown from the south, suddenly changed to the north-east,
and drove us from the shore. In the meanwhile the shallop had
vanished, and we sought for it in vain for a long time, owing to a
thick fog which covered the sea. At last I ordered some shots to be
fired, and to my great joy they were answered by others from the
shallop. I afterwards employed this means of finding the whereabouts
of our comrades with great success on all such occasions.

"On the 28th of June we were again shut in, and obliged to anchor
alongside of an iceberg. As we were much fatigued by the incessant
tossing about of t