the sailors we avoided it. Supposing that we had passed all danger, we met
with still more ice, which the sailors saw ahead of our vessel, but not
until we were almost upon it. When all had committed themselves to God,
having given up all hope of avoiding collision with this ice, which was
already under our bowsprit, they cried to the helmsman to bear off; and
this ice which was very extensive drove in such a manner that it passed by
without striking our vessel, which stopped short, and remained as still as
if it had never moved, to let it pass. Although the danger was over, our
blood was not so quickly cooled, so great had been our fear, and we praised
God for delivering us from so imminent a peril. This experience being over,
we passed the same night two or three other masses of ice, not less
dangerous than the former ones. There was at the same time a dripping fog,
and it was so cold that we could scarcely get warm. The next day we met
several other large and very high masses of ice, which, in the distance,
looked like islands. We, however, avoided them all, and reached the Grand
Bank, where we were detained by bad weather for the space of six days. The
wind growing a little milder, and very favorable, we left the banks in
latitude 44 deg. 30', which was the farthest south we could go. After sailing
some sixty leagues west-northwest, we saw a vessel coming down to make us
out, but which afterwards wore off to the east-northeast, to avoid a large
bank of ice, which covered the entire extent of our line of vision.
Concluding that there was a passage through the middle of this great floe,
which was divided into two parts, we entered, in pursuance of our course,
between the two, and sailed some ten leagues without seeing anything,
contrary to our conjecture of a fine passage through, until evening, when
we found the floe closed up. This gave us much anxiety as to what was to be
done, the night being at hand and there being no moon, which deprived us of
all means of returning to the point whence we had come. Yet, after due
deliberation, it was resolved to try to find again the entrance by which we
had come, which we set about accomplishing. But the night coming on with