set to work on
the beach in forging bolts for the martingales of the outriggers. In
short, every living creature among us was somehow or other employed,
not even excepting our dogs, which were set to drag up the stores on
the beach, so that our little dockyard soon exhibited the most
animated scene imaginable. The quickest method of landing casks, and
other things not too weighty, was that adopted by Captain Hoppner, and
consisted of a hawser secured to the ship's mainmast head, and set up
as tight as possible to the anchor on the beach,--the casks being
hooked to a block traversing on this as a jack stay, were made to run
down with great velocity. By this means, more than two were got on
shore for every one handed by the boats; the latter, however, being
constantly employed in addition. The Fury was thus so much lightened
in the course of the day, that two pumps were now nearly sufficient to
keep her free, and this number continued requisite until she was hove
down. Her spirit room was now entirely clear, and on examination the
water was found to be rushing in through two or three holes that
happened to be in the ceiling, and which were immediately plugged up.
Indeed it was now very evident that nothing but the lightness of the
Fury's diagonal ceiling had so long kept her afloat, and that any ship
not thus fortified within could not possibly have been kept free by
the pumps.

'At night, just as the people were going to rest, the ice began to
move to the southward, and soon after came in towards the shore, again
endangering the Fury's rudder, and pressing her over on her side to so
alarming a degree, as to warn us that it would not be safe to lighten
her much more in her present insecure situation.

'One of our bergs also shifted its position by this pressure, so as to
weaken our confidence in the pier heads of our intended basin; and a
long 'tongue' of one of them, forcing itself under the Hecla's
fore-foot, while the drift-ice was also pressing her forcibly from
astern, she once more sewed three or four feet forward at low water,
and continued to do so, notwithstanding repeated endeavours to haul
her off, for four successive tides, the ice remaining so close, and so
much doubled under the ship, as to render it impossible to move her a
single inch.

'Notwithstanding the state of the ice, however, we did not remain idle
on the 8th, all hands being employed in unrigging the Fury, and
landing all her spars, sails, bo