d driven into shoal water, having but fourteen
fathoms. Should they, or the ice to which they were fast, take the
ground, they must inevitably be lost; and at this time they were driving
fast toward some rocks on the N.E. Captain Phipps sent for the officers
of both ships, and told them his intention of preparing the boats for
going away. They were immediately hoisted out, and the fitting begun.
Canvas bread-bags were made, in case it should be necessary suddenly to
desert the vessels; and men were sent with the lead and line to N. and
E., to sound wherever they found cracks in the ice, that they might have
notice before the ice took the ground; for in that case the ships must
instantly have been crushed or overset.

On the 7th of August they began to haul the boats over the ice, Nelson
having command of a four-oared cutter. The men behaved excellently
well, like true British seamen: they seemed reconciled to the thought
of leaving the ships, and had full confidence in their officers. About
noon, the ice appeared rather more open near the vessels; and as the
wind was easterly, though there was but little of it, the sails were
set, and they got about a mile to the westward. They moved very slowly,
and were not now nearly so far to the westward as when they were first
beset. However, all sail was kept upon them, to force them through
whenever the ice slacked the least. Whatever exertions were made, it
could not be possible to get the boats to the water's edge before the
14th; and if the situation of the ships should not alter by that time,
it would not be justifiable to stay longer by them. The commander
therefore resolved to carry on both attempts together, moving the boats
constantly, and taking every opportunity of getting the ships through. A
party was sent out next day to the westward to examine the state of
the ice: they returned with tidings that it was very heavy and close,
consisting chiefly of large fields. The ships, however, moved something,
and the ice itself was drifting westward. There was a thick fog, so
that it was impossible to ascertain what advantage had been gained. It
continued on the 9th; but the ships were moved a little through some
very small openings: the mist cleared off in the afternoon, and it
was then perceived that they had driven much more than could have been
expected to the westward, and that the ice itself had driven still
further. In the course of the day they got past the boats, and to