Page:The open Polar Sea- a narrative of a voyage of discovery towards the North pole, in the schooner "United States" (IA openpolarseanarr1867haye).pdf/102



HANS AND HIS FAMILY.—PETOWAK GLACIER.—A SNOW-STORM.—THE ICE-PACK.—ENTERING SMITH'S SOUND.—A SEVERE GALE.—COLLISION WITH ICEBERGS.—ENCOUNTER WITH THE ICE-FIELDS.—RETREAT FROM THE PACK.—AT ANCHOR IN HARTSTENE BAY.—ENTERING WINTER QUARTERS.

It was five o'clock in the evening when I reached the schooner. The wind had freshened during our absence; and, unwilling to lose so favorable an opportunity for pushing on, I had hastened on board. Otherwise I should gladly have given some time to an examination of the native village which lies a few miles to the eastward of the cape, on the northern side of a conspicuous bay, near a place called Kíkertait,—"The Place of Islands."

In anticipation of a heavy blow and a dirty night, McCormick had, during my absence, taken a reef in the sails, and the little schooner, with her canvas shivering in the wind, seemed impatient as a hound in the leash. When the helm went up, she wheeled round to the north with a graceful toss of her head, and, after steadying herself for an instant, as if for a good start, she shot off before the wind at ten knots an hour. Capes, bays, islands, glaciers, and icebergs sank rapidly behind us; and, rejoicing over their extraordinary fortune, the ship's company were in the best of spirits. As we dashed on through nest after nest of icebergs, it was curious to observe the evidences of reckless daring which inspired their thoughts. Dodge