could not be possible to get the boats to the water's edge before the
14th; and if the situation of the ships should not alter by that time,
it would not be justifiable to stay longer by them. The commander
therefore resolved to carry on both attempts together, moving the boats
constantly, and taking every opportunity of getting the ships through. A
party was sent out next day to the westward to examine the state of
the ice: they returned with tidings that it was very heavy and close,
consisting chiefly of large fields. The ships, however, moved something,
and the ice itself was drifting westward. There was a thick fog, so
that it was impossible to ascertain what advantage had been gained. It
continued on the 9th; but the ships were moved a little through some
very small openings: the mist cleared off in the afternoon, and it
was then perceived that they had driven much more than could have been
expected to the westward, and that the ice itself had driven still
further. In the course of the day they got past the boats, and took them
on board again. On the morrow the wind sprang up to the N.N.E. All sail
was set, and the ships forced their way through a great deal of very
heavy ice. They frequently struck, and with such force that one stroke
broke the shank of the RACEHORSE's best bower-anchor, but the vessels
made way; and by noon they had cleared the ice, and were out at sea. The
next day they anchored in Smeerenberg Harbour, close to that island of
which the westernmost point is called Hakluyt's Headland, in honour of
the great promoter and compiler of our English voyages of discovery.

Here they remained a few days, that the men might rest after their
fatigue. No insect was to be seen in this dreary country, nor any
species of reptile--not even the common earth-worm. Large bodies of ice,
called icebergs, filled up the valleys between high mountains, so dark
as, when contrasted with the snow, to appear black. The colour of the
ice was a lively light green. Opposite to the place where they fixed