To prevent the ships separating during the fog, it was necessary to keep
fast to the heavy piece of ice which we had between them as a fender,
and with a reduced amount of sail on them, we made some way through the
pack: as we advanced in this novel mode to the south-west, we found the
ice became more open, and the westerly swell increasing as the wind
veered to the northwest, at midnight, we found it impossible any longer
to hold on by the floe piece. All our hawsers breaking in succession, we
made sail on the ships, and kept company, during the thick fog, by
firing guns, and by means of the usual signals: under the shelter of a
berg of nearly a mile in diameter, we dodged about during the whole day,
waiting for clear weather, that we might select the best lead through
the dispersing pack; but at nine P.M. the wind suddenly freshened to a
violent gale from the northward, compelling us to reduce our sails to a
close-reefed main-topsail and storm-staysails: the sea quickly rising
to a fearful height, breaking over the loftiest bergs, we were unable
any longer to hold our ground, but were driven into the heavy pack under
our lee. Soon after midnight, our ships were involved in an ocean of
rolling fragments of ice, hard as floating rocks of granite, which were
dashed against them by the waves with so much violence, that their masts
quivered as if they would fall, at every successive blow; and the
destruction of the ships seemed inevitable from the tremendous shocks
they received. By backing and filling the sails, we endeavored to avoid
collision with the larger masses; but this was not always possible: in
the early part of the storm, the rudder of the Erebus was so much
damaged as to be no longer of any use; and about the same time, I was
informed by signal that the Terror's was completely destroyed, and
nearly torn away from the stern-post. We had hoped that, as we drifted
deeper into the pack, we should get beyond the reach of the tempest; but
in this we were mistaken. Hour passed away after hour without the least
mitigation of the awful circumstances in which we were placed. Indeed,
there seemed to be but little probability of our ships holding together
much longer, so frequent and violent were the shocks they sustained. The
loud, crashing noise of the straining and working of the timbers and
decks, as she was driven against some of the heavier pieces, which all
the activity and exertions of our people could not prevent, was
sufficient to fill the stoutest heart, that was not supported by trust
in Him, who controls all events, with dismay.
At two P.M. the storm gained its height, when the barometer stood at
28.40 inches, and, after that time, began to rise. Although we had been
forced many miles deeper into the pack, we could not perceive that the
swell had at all subsided, our ships still rolling and groaning amid the
heavy fragments of crushing bergs, over which the ocean rolled its
mountainous waves, throwing huge masses one upon another, and then again
burying them deep beneath its foaming waters, dashing and grinding them
together with fearful violence. The awful grandeur of such a scene can
neither be imagined nor described, for less can the feelings of those
who witnessed it be understood. Each of us secured our hold, waiting the
issue with resignation to the will of Him who alone could preserve us,
and bring us safely through this extreme danger; watching with
breathless anxiety the effect of each succeeding collision, and the
vibrations of the tottering masts, expecting every moment to see them
give way, without our having the power to make an effort to save them.
Although the force of the wind had somewhat diminished by four o'clock,
yet the squalls came on with unabated violence, laying the ship over on
her broadside, and threatening to blow the storm-sails to pieces;
fortunately they were quite new, or they never could have withstood such
terrific gusts. At this time, the Terror was so close to us, that, when
she rose to the top of one wave, the Erebus was on the top of that next
to leeward of her; the deep chasm between them filled with heavy rolling
masses; and, as the ships descended into the hollow between the waves,
the main-topsail yard of each could be seen just level with the crest of
the intervening wave, from the deck of the other: from this, some idea
may be formed of the height of the waves, as well as of the perilous
situation of our ships. The night now began to draw on, and cast its
gloomy mantle over the appalling scene, rendering our condition, if
possible, more hopeless and helpless than before; but, at midnight, the
snow, which had been falling thickly for several hours, cleared away, as
the wind suddenly shifted to the westward, and the swell began to
subside; and although the shocks our ships still sustained were such
that must have destroyed any ordinary vessel in less than five minutes,
yet they were feeble compared to those to which we had been exposed,
and our minds became more at ease for their ultimate safety.
During the darkness of night and the thick weather, we had been carried
through a chain of bergs which were seen in the morning considerably to
windward, and which served to keep off the heavy pressure of the pack,
so that we found the ice much more open, and I was enabled to make my
way, in one of our boats, to the Terror, about whose condition I was
most anxious--for I was aware that her damages were of a much more
serious nature than those of the Erebus, notwithstanding the skillful
and seaman-like manner in which she had been managed, and by which she
maintained her appointed station throughout the gale. I found that her
rudder was completely broken to pieces, and the fastenings to the
stern-post so much strained and twisted, that it would be difficult to
get the spare rudder, with which we were fortunately provided, fitted so
as to be useful, and could only be done, if at all, under very favorable
circumstances. The other damages she had sustained were of less
consequence; and it was as great a satisfaction as it has ever since
been a source of astonishment to us to find that, after so many hours of
constant and violent thumping, both the vessels were nearly as tight as
they were before the gale. We can only ascribe this to the admirable
manner in which they had been fortified for the service, and to our
having their holds so stowed as to form a solid mass throughout.