noon, and informed me that on Sunday last, whilst our ships were in a very critical position in the pack, the Terror was on fire for two hours: some blocks of wood, which had been left too near to the warm air stove, ignited, and the smoke issuing from the main hold, gave immediate notice of the fact; the fire was happily got under by the promptitude and exertions of the officers and crew, without their having occasion to increase our embarrassments by soliciting our aid. By means of a powerful engine, which was always kept in readiness, the hold was filled with water to a depth of two feet, and soon extinguished the fire, which was close down upon the kelson. All other accounts from her were satisfactory; and I was especially glad to find she had suffered even less than we had in clearing the pack.
The remainder of this, and nearly the whole of the following day, were spent in beating along the pack edge to the westward, sometimes passing through heavy streams of ice, but without Feb. 5. being able to make any southing until 8.30 p.m., by which time the wind had freshened to a gale from the north, with fog and snow; and finding that the pack resumed its southerly trending, we bore away, under moderate sail, before the gale; for however hazardous this measure may seem to be, and really was, yet we had so few days of the navigable season left, it became necessary to incur some additional risk, if we hoped to accomplish any thing worth doing.
