Page:Journal of a Voyage to Greenland, in the Year 1821.djvu/112

82 him to take the charge of one of my guns, supplying him with ammunition, harpoons, and also shells and carcases, to be tried upon such active and resolute whales, as were dangerous to approach, and difficult to conquer.

At two o'clock in the morning we met with the Enterprise of Lynn, Captain Sanderson. As that officer had interested himself deeply in my inventions, and had given me much useful information on the whale-fishery, I went on board his ship, and requested him to take the charge of one of my hand-harpoons, to which he readily acceded, promising to give it the fullest trial whenever an opportunity should offer. On leaving the Enterprise, we entered a region of ice, consisting of pieces of great magnitude, different from any I had hitherto seen. A very intelligent man, the captain of a Bremen ship, came on board, and requested to be instructed in my method of saving persons from shipwreck. To him I gave one of my lectures, detailing and illustrating the subject, for which he expressed himself greatly obliged, and seemed to anticipate considerable pleasure in disseminating its contents in his own country.

Nothing could exceed the interesting variety which this day's sailing presented. The pieces of ice varied in form and size, and as we passed through the intricacies between them, the greatest dexterity was requisite, to catch the favourable moment at which they offered a passage; and the utmost exertion became necessary to get beyond their reach, lest,