In order to obtain oil for another winter's consumption, before the
ships could be released from the ice, and our travelling parties having
seen a number of black whales in the open water to the northward, two
boats from each ship were, with considerable labour, transported four
miles along shore in that direction, to be in readiness for killing a
whale and boiling the oil on the beach, whenever the open water should
approach sufficiently near. Notwithstanding these preparations, however,
it was vexatious to find that on the 9th of July the water was still
three miles distant from the boats, and at least seven from Port Bowen.
On the 12th, the ice in our neighbourhood began to detach itself, and
the boats, under the command of Lieutenants Sherer and Ross, being
launched on the following day, succeeded almost immediately in killing a
small whale of "five feet bone," exactly answering our purpose. Almost
at the same time, and, as it turned out, very opportunely, the ice at
the mouth of our harbour detached itself at an old crack, and drifted
off, leaving only about one mile and a quarter between us and the sea.
Half of this distance being occupied by the gravelled canal, which was
dissolved quite through the ice in many parts, and had become very thin
in all, every officer and man in both ships were set to work without
delay to commence a fresh canal from the open water to communicate with
the other.
Pages:
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167