lacrity with
which the floe was suddenly peopled by about 500 men, triangles rigged,
and the long saws (called ice-saws) used for cutting the ice, were
manned. A hundred songs from hoarse throats resounded through the gale;
the sharp chipping of the saws told that the work was flying; and the
loud laugh or broad witticisms of the crews mingled with the words of
command and encouragement to exertion given by the officers.

The pencil of a Wilkie could hardly convey the characteristics of such
a scene, and it is far beyond my humble pen to tell of the stirring
animation exhibited by some twenty ships' companies, who knew that on
their own exertions depended the safety of their vessels and the
success of their voyage. The ice was of an average thickness of three
feet, and to cut this saws of ten feet long were used, the length of
stroke being about as far as the men directing the saw could reach up
and down. A little powder was used to break up the pieces that were
cut, so as to get them easily out of the mouth of the dock, an
operation which the officers of our vessels performed whilst the men
cut away with the saws. In a very short time all the vessels were in
safety, the pressure of the pack expending itself on a chain of bergs
some ten miles north of our present position. The unequal contest
between floe and iceberg exhibited itself there in a fearful manner;
for the former pressing onward against the huge grounded masses was
torn into shreds, and thrown back piecemeal, layer on layer of many
feet in elevation, as if mere shreds of some flimsy material, instead
of solid, hard ice, every cubic yard of which weighed nearly a ton.

The smell of our numerous fires brought a bear in sight; Nimrods
without number issued out to slay him, the weapons being as varied as
the individuals were numerous. The chase would, however, have been a
fruitless one, had not the bear in his retreat fallen in with and
killed a seal; his voracity overcame his fears, and being driven into
the water, he was shot from the boat of one of the whalers which had
perseveringly followed him.

The brute was of no great size--not more than five feet in length. The
coat, instead of being white, was turned to a dingy yellow, much
resembling in colour decayed ice; a resemblance which enabled the
animal, no doubt, to approach the seals with greater facility.

By midnight all fears for the safety of the vessels had ceased; indeed,
as far as our searching s