nger that the channel
which had been cut from the schooner to the nearest point beneath the
rocks, in readiness for this very contingency, might be closed by the
pressure of the ice without, on that within the cove. No time was to be
lost, therefore, if it was intended to move the craft on this shift of
wind. The distance that had been sawed through to make the channel just
named, did not exceed a hundred yards. The passage was not much wider than
the schooner's breadth: and it will be easily understood that it was to
the last degree important to carry her through this strait as soon as
possible. Although many useful articles were scattered about on the ice,
and several remained to be brought over the rocks from the house, the
order was given to get out lines, and to move the vessel at once, the men
set to work with hearty goodwill, another glimpse of home rising before
their imaginations; and, in five minutes after Hazard had made his
communication, the Sea Lion had gone six or eight times her length towards
the cliffs. Then came the pinch! Had not the ice been solid between the
cape and the berth just before occupied by the schooner, she would have
been hopelessly nipped by the closing of the artificial channel. As it
was, she was caught, and her progress was arrested, but the field took a
cant, in consequence of the resistance, of the solid ice that filled the
whole cove to the eastward of the channel; and, before any damage was
done, the latter began to open even faster than it had come together. The
instant the craft was released the sealers manned their hauling lines
again, and ran her up lo the rocks with a hurrah! The margin of water was
just opening, but so prompt had been the movement of the men that it was
not yet wide enough to permit the vessel to go any further; and it was
found necessary to wait until the passage was sufficiently wide to enable
her to move ahead. The intervening time was occupied in bringing to the
craft the articles left behind.

By nine o'clock everything was on board; the winding channel that followed
the sinuosities of the coast could be traced far as the eye could see; the
lines were manned; and the word was again given to move. Roswell now felt
that he was engaged in much the most delicate of all his duties. The
desperate run through the fleet of bergs, and the second attempt to get to
sea, were not in certain particulars as hazardous as this. The field had
been setting back and fort