swered the captain, simply.

The steam was soon got up, the anchors were weighed, and the _Forward_
veered away east, cutting the young ice with her steel prow. Between
Baring Island and Beecher Point there are a considerable quantity
of islands in the midst of ice-fields; the streams crowd together
in the little channels which cut up this part of the sea; they had
a tendency to agglomerate under the relatively low temperature;
hummocks were formed here and there, and these masses, already more
compact, denser, and closer together, would soon form an impenetrable
mass. The _Forward_ made its way with great difficulty amidst the
snowstorms. However, with the mobility that characterises the
climate of these regions, the sun appeared from time to time, the
temperature went up several degrees, obstacles melted as if by magic,
and a fine sheet of water lay where icebergs bristled all the passes.
The horizon glowed with those magnificent orange shades which rest
the eye, tired with the eternal white of the snow.

On the 26th of July the _Forward_ passed Dundas Island, and veered
afterwards more to the north; but there Hatteras found himself
opposite an ice-bank eight or nine feet high, formed of little
icebergs detached from the coast; he was obliged to turn west. The
uninterrupted cracking of the ice, added to the noise of the steamer,
was like sighs or groans. At last the brig found a channel, and
advanced painfully along it; often an enormous iceberg hindered her
course for hours; the fog hindered the pilot's look-out; as long as
he can see for a mile in front of him, he can easily avoid obstacles;
but in the midst of the fog it was often impossible to see a cable's
length, and the swell was very strong. Sometimes the clouds looked
smooth and white as though they were reflections of the ice-banks;
but there were entire days when the yellow rays of the sun could not
pierce the tenacious fog. Birds were still very numerous, and their
cries were deafening; seals, lying idle on the floating ice, raised
their heads, very little frightened, and moved their long necks as
the brig passed. Pieces from the ship's sheathing were often rubbed
off in her contact with the ice. At last, after six days of slow
navigation, Point Beecher was sighted to the north on the 1st of August.
Hatteras passed the last few hours at his masthead; the open sea that
Stewart had perceived on May 30th, 1851, about latitude 76 degrees
20 minutes, could no