de, it came down with a
momentum that was resistless, ripping and tearing the edges of the field
as if they had been so much freshly turned up mould. It was, then, a
question how to get the schooner out of her present bed, and into clear
water.

The reader will probably remember that, on her first arrival at the group,
the Sea Lion had entered the Great Bay from the southward; while, in her
subsequent effort to get north, she had gone out by the opposite passage.
Now, it occurred to Roswell that he might escape by the former of these
routes more readily than by the latter, and for the following
reasons:--No field-ice had ever blocked up the southern passage, which
was now quite clear, though the approach to it just then was choked by the
manner in which the north-east gale that was still blowing, pressed home
against the rocks the field that so nearly filled the bay. A shift of
wind, however, must soon come; and when that change occurred, it was
certain that this field would move in an opposite direction, leaving the
margin of open water, that has already been mentioned, all along the
rocks. The distance was considerable, it is true--not less than fifteen
miles--and the whole of it was to be made quite close to sharp angular
rocks that would penetrate the schooner's sides almost as readily as an
axe, in the event of a nip; but this danger might be avoided by foresight,
and a timely attention to the necessities of the case. Seeing no more
available plan to get the vessel out of her present duresse, the mates
came readily into this scheme, and preparations were made to carry it out.
As the cove was so near the north-east end of Sealer's Land, it may be
well to explain that the reason this same mode of proceeding could not be
carried out in a northern direction, was the breadth of the field seaward,
and the danger of following the north shore when the solid ice did leave
it, on account of the quantities of broken fragments that were tossing and
churning in its front, far as the eye could reach from the cliffs
themselves.

The third day after the commencement of the thaw, the wind came round
again from the south-west, blowing heavily. As was expected, this soon
began to set the field in motion, driving it over towards the volcano, and
at the same time northerly. About six in the morning, Hazard brought a
report to Roswell that a margin of open water was beginning to form all
along under the cliffs, while there was great da