“It was determined by Captain Forsyth boldly to try and break through the impediment, by forcing the ship under a press of canvas. Accordingly, all sail was set and the ship was steering direct for the narrowest and most broken part of the neck. As this was the first and only time the Prince Albert was made to come direct upon the ice to break it with the force she would derive from a press of sail, we were all anxious to see how she would stand it; and right well did she bear the test. The two mates were aloft in the ‘crow’s nest’ to _con_ the vessel; I was standing on the extreme point of her bow and holding on by the fore-stay to direct her movement when immediately upon the ice; and Captain Forsyth was by the side of the helmsman. Every man was at some particular station, and ready to perform anything that was instantly required of him. Cook and steward were also on deck; and throughout the ship an almost breathless anxiety prevailed; for, it must be remembered, it was not a large and powerful ship, but a small, and comparatively fragile one, that was now about to try of her own accord, and with her own strength, to break a piece of ice some feet thick, though not very broad. On either side of her were heavy floes and sconce pieces; and it required the greatest nicety in guiding her, that she might, in her strongest part, the bow, hit the precise spot where the neck was weakest, and not come upon any other part where she could do nothing but severely injure herself. “On she came, at a rate of full five miles per hour; gaining, as she proceeded, increased impetus, until she rushed towards it with a speed of at least eight miles in the hour. The distance from the neck was about a mile, and the breeze blew steadily upon it. The weakest and narrowest part was that close to the starboard floe, and to _that_ our eyes were all directed.