Page:Journal of a Voyage to Greenland, in the Year 1821.djvu/135

Rh until, towards evening, the breeze changing to the south, we kept under the lee of this noble breakwater, and ran to the opposite side which had afforded us shelter yesterday; this gave us an opportunity of estimating its extent, which was upwards of twenty miles north and south, and more than ten miles east and west. The ship's run this day was truly interesting; for, on looking forward, a person, unaccustomed to the navigation of these seas, would have considered it impossible for a vessel in a strong wind, to sail through an ocean encumbered by huge masses of ice in every direction. At eight o'clock, a thick fog came on; and a heavy fall of snow, accompanied with a gale of wind, closed the day.

During the night the wind suddenly abated to a perfect calm, but this did not lull Captain Scoresby into security, nor induce him to put more sail upon the ship, as the faithful herald of the movements of the elements (the barometer) foretold an impending storm; he, consequently, kept the ship under close-reefed topsails, though every other vessel in company increased the number of their sails. In an instant, the wind commenced blowing with fury, and in a contrary direction to the last gale, causing the ice which before had been a friendly shelter, now to become a dangerous foe. The violence of the gale making it hazardous to beat through a sea thickly strewed with heavy pieces of ice, to regain the comfortable shelter we