Chapter IX

Increased Extent of open Water in the Offing.--A Travelling Party despatched to the Northward.--Unsuccessful Attempt to raise Vegetables on Shore.--Decease of James Pringle.--A Party of Esquimaux build Huts near the Ships.--Return of the Travellers, and Account of their Journey.--First Appearance of the Plants.--Birds become numerous.--Commence cutting a Canal through the Ice for liberating the Ships.--Illness and Decease of John Reid and William Souter.--Breaking up of the Ice in the Bay.--Account of Winter Island.--Abstract of Observations made there.

TECHNICAL TERMS PECULIAR TO THE NAVIGATION AMONG ICE

BAY-ICE.--Ice newly formed upon the surface of the sea. The expression is, however, applied also to ice a foot or two in thickness.

BESET.--The situation of a ship when closely surrounded by ice.

BIGHT.--An indentation in a floe of ice, like a bay, by which name it is sometimes called.

BLINK.--A peculiar brightness in the atmosphere, often assuming an arch-like form, which is generally perceptible over ice or land covered with snow. The blink of land, as well as that over _large_ quantities of ice, is usually of a yellowish cast.

BORE.--The operation of "boring" through loose ice consists in entering it under a press of sail, and forcing the ship through by separating the masses.

CALF.--A mass of ice lying under a floe near its margin, and, when disengaged from that position, rising with violence to the surface of the water. See TONGUE.

CLEAR WATER.--Any part of the sea unencumbered with ice.

CROW'S NEST.--A small circular house like a cask, fixed at the masthead, in which the look-out man sits, either to guide the ship through the ice or to give notice of whales.

DOCK.--In a floe may be natural or artificial; the former being simply a small "bight," in which a ship is placed to secure her from the danger of external pressure; and the latter, a square space cut out with saws for a similar purpose.

FIELD.--A sheet of ice generally of great thickness, and of too great extent to be seen over from a ship's masthead.

FLINCHING.--The operation of stripping a sea-animal of its skin and blubber.

FLOE.--The same as a field, except that its extent can be distinguished from a ship's masthead. A "bay-floe" is a floe of ice newly formed.

FLOE-PIECE.--An expression generally applied to small pieces of floes, not more than a furlong square.

A HOLE or POOL of Water.--A small space of "clear water," when the rest of the sea is covered with ice.

HUMMOCK.--A mass of ice rising to a considerable height above the general level of a floe, and forming a part of it. Hummocks are originally raised by the pressure of floes against each other.

LAND-ICE.--Ice attached to the land, either in floes or in heavy grounded masses lying near the shore.

LANE of Water.--A narrow channel among the masses of ice, through which a boat or ship may pass.

LEAD.--A channel through the ice. A ship is said to "take the right lead" when she follows a channel conducting her into a more navigable sea, and _vice versâ_.

MAKING-OFF Blubber.--The operation of putting it into casks.

NIPPED.--The situation of a ship when forcibly pressed by ice.

PACK.--A large body of ice, consisting of separate masses, lying close together, and whose extent cannot be seen.

PANCAKE-ICE.--Newly formed ice, assuming the peculiar conformation of numberless patches of "sludge," and giving the surface of the sea the appearance of a handsome pavement.

PATCH of Ice.--The same as a pack, but of small dimensions.

SAILING-ICE.--Ice of which the masses are so much separated as to allow a ship to sail among them.

SALLYING a Ship.--The operation of causing her to roll, by the men running in a body from side to side, so as to relieve her from the adhesion and friction of the young ice around her.

SLUDGE.--Ice of the consistence of thick honey, offering little impediment to a ship while in this state, but greatly favouring the formation of a "bay-floe."

STREAM.--A long and narrow, but generally continuous, collection of loose ice.

TONGUE.--A mass of ice projecting under water from an iceberg or floe, and generally distinguishable at a considerable depth of smooth water. It differs from a "calf" in being fixed to, or a part of the larger body.

WATER-SKY.--A dark appearance in the sky, indicating "clear water" in that direction, and forming a striking contrast with the "blink" over land or ice.

YOUNG-ICE.--Nearly the same as "bay-ice," but generally applied to ice more recently formed than the latter.

VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY OF A NORTHWEST PASSAGE