| Dimensions of Dock. | |
| Length | 200 ft. |
| Breadth, at entrance | 65 ” |
| Ditto, at head | 35 ” |
For two days were the ships kept close prisoners; but on Sunday, August 15th, as soon as divine service was finished, a large party of men was actively engaged in cutting and blasting a passage between the floe in which we were imprisoned and the shore, for a lead of water had been observed in the channel which we were naturally desirous of reaching. Although Sunday was as much as possible observed as a day of rest, it was quite out of the question to a party situated as we were altogether to abstain from work on the Sabbath. Our navigable season, we knew, was a short one; no opportunity could we afford to lose; and therefore we were compelled to work as much on Sunday as on week-days should circumstances arise which would make it necessary for us to do so. After about nine hours’ hard work we succeeded in making a passage sufficiently broad for the ships to pass through. Our last explosion was a most effective one; no less than eight blasting charges, or torpedoes, were exploded simultaneously—these varied in size from five to twelve pound charges.
| “THE MOANING OF THE TIED.” |
The result of this, designated by the men, “feu de joy” was wonderful; the floe split and cracked in all directions, enabling us with our long ice points and poles to clear a splendid channel. Hauling the ships out of dock, we steamed through the passage and into a fine stream of water round Cape Louis Napoleon. So narrow, however, was our channel that in rounding the point, to our great dismay, the “Discovery” grounded. A delay at this moment might have proved fatal to us, and it was therefore with no small amount of satisfaction, after a short detention, that we observed her again afloat. Our joy at being again on the move was short-lived. A few hours sufficed to bring us to the edge of a field of ice, to penetrate which seemed utterly impossible. To cut a dock in such ice, the floes being from ten to twenty feet in thickness, was also out of the question, even had we been provided with saws sufficiently long to do so. Blasting was resorted to, and by this means we were enabled to secure the ship in a small indentation in the ice that afforded some slight protection. So high was the ice that our boats, hanging from the midship davits on the outside of the ship, had to be turned inboard to prevent their being crushed. For three days were we kept in a state of feverish excitement without being able to make any progress, and yet constantly moving the ship to avoid destruction from drifting bergs and closing floes.
The shore was frequently visited, and the heights of Mount Joy and Cape Hayes ascended; but always the same scene met our view to northward—an impassable plain of ice.
Twice in one day were the ships nearly destroyed. A large iceberg that was aground close to us, and therefore protecting us from the pack, suddenly floated and drifted away. This released a large floe to which we were secured, and with which we drifted down rapidly towards another large berg that remained aground. It was an anxious time for us, for in five minutes, unless we could move out of the way, we must be inevitably crushed between the two. All hands were quickly summoned, a line laid out astern and made fast to some large hummocks, and by this we fortunately succeeded in hauling the ship clear; but only just in time, for as our bowsprit cleared the berg, the floe came into contact with it with such irresistible force that hummock was piled upon hummock in a truly alarming manner. Had we been caught, nothing short of a miracle could have saved us.
The noise of the ice as it squeezed against the berg was anything but pleasant to listen to; but still it was better than hearing our own timbers crashing to pieces in the same manner, and we all experienced a strong feeling of relief when the danger was past.
Little rest was enjoyed by any on these days during which we were subjected to the wayward will of the pack. Unshipping and replacing the rudder, and lifting and lowering the screw, were duties that had to be carried out several times during each day, and, although this sort of work is rather depressing and irksome, the spirits of the crew never flagged. They were always ready, cheerful, and willing. No matter what duty they were called upon to perform, it was invariably carried out in the same zealous, hearty manner that was so conspicuously manifested during the whole period of the absence of the expedition as to elicit the unbounded praise and confidence of their leader.
On the 19th of August the ice slackened sufficiently to enable us to proceed, and on that evening, to the intense delight of every one, we succeeded in rounding Cape Fraser.