Page:Narrative of the Discoveries on the North Coast of America.djvu/307

AMONGST ICE. in the same tedious and laborious manner, till the ice, now for the first time btoken up and set in motion by a strong north-east wind, drove us ashore. During these last few days the boats sustained serious damage, and were now become leaky. Indeed, in our anxiety to get on, we subjected them to very rough usage. Often, when the ice was not quite firm enough to make portages with safety, we hauled the boats upon it; and, holding on by the gunwales, all hands continued jumping and pressing down till it began to yield; and, the boats sinking into the water, we scrambled on board, and by main force pushed aside the pieces thus separated. At other times, one party was stationed upon the rocks, with ironshod poles, to shove against the ice; another upon the ice, to shove against the rocks; and, when an opening the breadth of the boats could be thus formed, the remaining hands passed them through, one at a time: those with the poles holding on with all their might, lest the ice should close, like a pair of nut-crackers, and deprive us of the means of either advancing or retreating. On this part of the coast many reindeer paths were found, leading from the interior to the sea; from which circumstance, and from our seeing, up to this time, males only, I infer that the females pass by these roads early in the