They knew, in a vague way, that winter would come early, but they had not counted on the big September storm that dashed their heavy-laden boats against the floe-ice, ultimately drove them ashore, and nearly cost the little party their lives.

The Tulare was free now from the clinging mass at the bow, but they knew they had struck their first floe.

A little below here it was four miles from bank to bank of the main channel, but at this point the river was only about two miles wide, and white already with floating masses of floe-ice going on a swift current down towards the sea, four hundred miles away.

In the middle of the flood the clotted current still ran with floe-ice, but it was plain the river was settling down for its long sleep.

Ahead an ice-floe glittered in the sun.

By this time the two fields were a hundred fathoms asunder; the smaller, or that on which the vessel lay, drifting quite fast into the bay, under the joint influences of wind and current; while the larger floe had clearly been arrested by the islands.

So irresistible had been the momentum of the great floe, that it lifted her out of the water as two or three hands would run up a bark canoe on a gravelly beach.

An effort was made to run back, but it failed in consequence of an enormous floe's turning on its centre, having met resistance from a field closer in, that was, in its turn, stopped by the rocks.

It was by no means difficult to proceed; for the surface of the floe, one seemingly more than a league in extent, was quite smooth, and the snow on it was crusted to a strength that would have borne a team.

They scrambled into their fur garments, and hurrying to the surface of the floe, listened for the hoarse call of their quarry, the walrus.

Three searching parties were sent out, while, from time to time, flares were lighted to show them the way to the submarine, should they chance to have lost their directions on the ice-floe.

At the first hint of dawn the watch discovered a lead half-way through the ice-floe.

The result was what might have been expected; the ice closed in and the "sub" was locked in the center of the floe.

The "sub" carried a sufficient length of steel cable to reach to the farther edge of the ice-floe.

When the "sub" passed from beneath the ice-floe, the second engineer in his superabundance of joy hazarded a few turns of the disabled shaft.

CHAPTER XI A BATTLE BENEATH THE ARCTIC MOON "THE TREASURE CITY" "We'll stick 'ere behint th' connin'-tower," the engineer explained to Dave, as the submarine, turning, put off up the dark channel which separated the solid shore-ice from the great drift of ice-floe that lay beyond.

The whole ice-floe was already gray and indistinct from the drift.

[forms of frozen water] ice; snow, snowflake, snow crystal, snow drift; sleet; hail, hailstone; rime, frost; hoar frost, white frost, hard frost, sharp frost; barf; glaze [U.S.], lolly [U.S.]; icicle, thick-ribbed ice; fall of snow, heavy fall; iceberg, icefloe; floe berg; glacier; nevee, serac^; pruina^. [cold substances] freezing mixture, dry ice, liquid nitrogen, liquid helium.

Although they saw much heavy floe ice, some of it aground even in nine fathom water, yet none of it bore marks of being more than one season old; and from the heights of land they could discern lanes of open water outside,so that a ship, properly strengthened for such a voyage, could make way through it with a favouring breeze.

They found, on issuing into the open air, that a stiff breeze was blowing, which, from the threatening appearance of the sky, promised to become a gale; but as there was no apprehension to be entertained in regard to the stability of the floe, they returned to the hut, taking care to carry in their arms along with them.

Clambering to the top of a hummock, he observed a long stretch of level floe to the northward.

Just as we had made fast to a floe, to take in water from a bright blue pool which slept on its hollow surface, I was called upon deck to witness "a seal's wedding."

Life on an ice floe.

Life on an ice floe.

After killing her cub, he had fired at her, and struck her on the jaw, which remained gasping, as if dislocated, and believing her hors de combat, he got upon the floe, to take possession of her slain offspring.