Page:The frozen North; an account of Arctic exploration for use in schools (IA frozennorthaccou00hort).pdf/51

 crackling sounds were heard and pieces of ice the size of walnuts fell on the deck like hail. The sailors had just time to cast off from the berg when it fell, with a crash, into the water around them.

Not long after this the Advance became so firmly fastened in the ice that they could not push her in any direction. The party then left the brig and explored the country around, traveling forty miles, and at last climbing to the top of an iceberg, a height of eleven hundred feet above the sea. On every side, as far as the eye could reach from this great elevation, spread out a solid sea of ice.

It was now September, and the temperature fell below freezing. It seemed certain that the Advance could not be freed from the ice until the next summer, and the explorers accordingly prepared to pass the winter there. They succeeded in dragging the vessel and wedging it in between two islands. In this harbor, known as Rensselaer bay, the stanch little Advance was frozen solidly in, never to be released.