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562 PHIPPS’S JOURNAL.
time that we were faft amongft the Seven iflands, we had frequent opportunities of ob-
ferving the irrefiftible force of the large bodies of floating ice. We have often feen a
piece of feveral acres fquare lifted up between two much larger. pieces, and as it were
becoming one withthem; and afterwards this piece fo formed acting in the fame man-
ner upon a fecond anda third; which would probably have continued to be the effeét,
till the whole bay had been fo filled with ice that the different pieces could have had no
motion, had not the ftream taken an unexpected turn, and fet the ice out of the bay.
The nineteenth, weighed in the morning with the windat N.N. E. Before we got
out of the bay it fellcalm. I obferved for thefe three or four days, about eleven in the
evening, an appearance of dufk.
The twentieth, at midnight, being exaétly in the latitude of Cloven cliff, Mr. Har-
vey took an obfervation for the refraction ; which we found agreeable with the tables.
‘The wind foutherly all day, blowing frefh in the afternoon. About noon fell in with a
f{tream of loofe ice, and about four made the main ice near us. We ftood to the
W.N.W. along it at night, and found it in the fame fituation as when we faw it be-
fore ; the wind frefhened and the weather grew thick, fo that we loft fight of it, and
could not venture to ftand nearer, the wind being S.S. W.
The twenty-firft, at two in the morning we were clofe in with the body of the weft
ice, and obliged to tack for it; blowing frefh, with avery heavy fea from the fouth-
ward. ‘The wind abated in the afternoon, but the fwell continued, with a thick fog.
The twenty-fecond, the wind {fprung up northerly, with a thick fog; about noon
moderate and clearer ; but coming on to blow frefh again in the evening, with a great
fea, and thick fog, I was forced to haul more to the eaftward, left we fhould be em-
bayed, or run upon lee ice.
The feafon was fo very far advanced, and fogsas well as gales of wind fo much to be
expected, that nothing more could now have been done, had any thing been left untried.
The fummer appears to have been uncommonly favourable for our purpofe, and af-
forded us the fulleft opportunity of afcertaiaing repeatedly the fituation of that wall of
ice, extending for more than 20° between the latitudes of 80° and 81°, without the
{malleft appearance of any opening.
I fhould here conclude the account of the voyage, had not fome obfervations and ex- -
periments occurred on the paflage home.
In fteering to the fouthward we foon found the weather grow more mild, or rather to
our feelings warm. Augult the twenty-fourth we faw Jupiter: the fight ofa ftar was
now become almoft as extraordinary a phenomenon, as the fun at midnight when we
firft got within the Arétic circle. ‘(he weather was very fine for fome part of the voy-
age ; on the fourth of September, the water being perfectly fmooth with a dead calm, I
repeated with fuccefs the attempt I had made to get foundings in the main ocean at great
depths, and ftruck ground in fix hundred and eighty-three fathoms, with circumftances
(which will be mentioned in the Appendix). that convince me I was not miftaken in the
depth ;_ the bottom was a fine foft blue clay. From the feventh of September, when we
were off Shetland, till the twenty-fourth, when we made Orfordnefs, we had very hard
gales of wind with little intermiflion, which were conftantly indicated feveral hours before
they came on by the fall of the barometer, and rife of the manometer: this proved
to me the utility of thofe inftruments at fea. In one of thefe gales, the hardeft, I think;
I ever was in, and with the greateft fea, we loft three of our boats, and were obliged to
heave two of our guns overboard, and bear away for fome time, though near a lee-fhore,
to clear the fhip of water. I cannot omit this opportunity of repeating, that I had the
greatelt reafon on this, as well as every other critical occafion, to be fatished with the
behaviour
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