Chap. VI.]
PERILOUS SITUATION OF THE SHIPS.
171
1842
was sufficient to fill the stoutest heart, that was not supported by trust in Him who controls all events, with dismay; and I should commit an act of injustice to my companions if I did not express my admiration of their conduct on this trying occasion; throughout a period of twenty-eight hours, during any one of which there appeared to be very little hope that we should live to see another, the coolness, steady obedience, and untiring exertions of each individual were every way worthy of British seamen.
The storm gained its height at 2 p.m., when the barometer stood at 28.40 inches, and after that time began to rise. Although we had been forced many miles deeper into the pack, we could not perceive that the swell had at all subsided, our ships still rolling and groaning amidst the heavy fragments of crushing bergs, over which the ocean rolled its mountainous waves, throwing huge masses one upon another, and then again burying them deep beneath its foaming waters, dashing and grinding them together with fearful violence. The awful grandeur of such a scene can neither be imagined nor described, far less can the feelings of those who witnessed it be understood. Each of us secured our hold, waiting the issue with resignation to the will of Him who alone could preserve us, and bring us safely through this extreme danger; watching with breathless anxiety the effect of each succeeding collision, and the vibrations of the tottering masts, expecting