other end of which were attached the ropes rove through blocks held
firmly a quarter-of a mile ahead by thirty anchors imbedded in the
ice. We started the engines, and, sure enough, the bows of the vessel
began to rise out of the water. The _Mercury_ would have been lifted
high and dry on the ice were it not that at that moment several of the
smaller cables in the blocks snapped asunder, and thus our third
effort failed. At this juncture, Sir John Forbes proposed to plant a
few more anchors in the ice, and through the additional blocks work a
cable leading from the bows of the _Mercury_ to the stern of the
_Aurora Borealis_. This being done, he would steam ahead off the ice
and add the power of his ship to that of the _Mercury's_ engine, and
thus relieve the strain on the _Mercury's_ cables. It was a capital
idea, and we immediately put it into execution. The result was a
perfect success. The combined energies of the English ship and her
crew, together with those of our own vessel and men, drew the
_Mercury_ up the slide of ice, and placed her erect and dry upon the
level surface of the lead. It was now comparatively easy work to draw
the ship along the ice. Her own engines were equal to the task; but it
was impossible for the _Mercury_ to go ahead, as, without her
assistance, the _Aurora Borealis_ would be unable to leave the water.
Then, again, there was only the material for but one cradle for both
ships. The difficulty was solved by cutting away one-fourth of the
cradle from beneath both bow and stern of the _Mercury_, and, joining
these parts, we furnished the _Aurora Borealis_ with a sledge as large
as that of our own ship, and strong enough to keep her in an upright
position while being dragged over the ice. After infinite trouble, and
in obedience to the aggregated energies of the engines of both ships
and the hauling of the combined crews, the English ship was drawn up
upon the ice beside the American vessel. This double feat of skill and
determination was duly saluted by a roar of guns and the cheers of the
sailors.

"The ice proved so smooth and hard that the crews of each ship,
assisted by the engines, were able to work their respective vessels in
good order through the entire chasm, a distance of seventy miles.
Arriving at the open floe beyond the northern ice-foot, we bevelled
off the ice as before, and the ships were finally launched upon the
polar sea."

I congratulated Sir John Forbes and Captain Adam