Page:A Voyage of Discovery and Research in the Southern and Antarctic Regions Vol 2.djvu/216

1842

heavy ice and foam, and succeeded by 2 a.m. in gaining the clear sea, closely followed by the Terror; and although part of our stem was broken off, and the ship much strained by the heavy shocks she encountered, we were thankful to find she had escaped with such comparatively trifling injury. At this time we were in latitude 67° 29′ S., and longitude 159° 01′ W.; and the joy we all felt at our escape from the pack, in which we had been involved fifty-six days, cannot possibly be imagined, heightened, as it was, in some degree by the fact of the wind shifting to the westward, with thick weather almost immediately after we had got clear of the ice, which would have prevented our release at any rate for some days, had we not fortunately accomplished it before the change took place. Still, however, we were not entirely free from anxiety; the wind blowing a strong breeze, directly on to the pack, obliged us to keep a heavy press of sail on the ships to prevent their being again driven down upon it. The thick-falling snow limiting our view to a distance of half a mile, we were uncertain of the result for some hours; but, on the weather clearing up, we had the satisfaction of finding ourselves in an almost perfectly clear sea, a few heavy straggling pieces, and two or three small bergs being the only ice in sight.

At noon we were in latitude 67° 57′ S., longitude 160° 03′ W., and the wind having moderated and shifted to the south-west, we stood to the south-eastward, until making the pack edge at 6 p.m.,