The great stress now fell upon our bow; and,
after being again lifted up, we were carried with great violence towards
the Alexander which had hitherto been, in a great measure, defended by
the Isabella. Every effort to avoid their getting foul of each other
failed; the ice-anchors and cables broke one after another; and the
sterns of the two ships came so violently into contact, as to crush to
pieces a boat that could not be removed in time. The collision was
tremendous, the anchors and chain-plates being broken, and nothing less
than the loss of the masts expected; but at this eventful instant, by
the interposition of Providence, the force of the ice seemed exhausted;
the two fields suddenly receded, and we passed the Alexander with
comparatively little damage. A clear channel soon after opened, and we
ran into a pool, thus escaping the immediate danger; but the fall of
snow being very heavy, our situation still remained doubtful, nor could
we conjecture whether we were yet in a place of safety. Neither the
masters, the mates, nor those men who had been all their lives in the
Greenland service, had ever experienced such imminent peril; and they
declared, that a common whaler must have been crushed to atoms.
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