At eight in the morning of the 19th, the wind veering back to W., I tacked to the northward, and, at noon, the latitude was 70 deg. 6’, and the longitude 195 deg. 42’.  In this situation, we had a good deal of drift-ice about us; and the main ice was about two leagues to the N. At half-past one, we got in with the edge of it.  It was not so compact as that which we had seen to the northward; but it was too close, and in too large pieces, to attempt forcing the ships through it.  On the ice lay a prodigious number of sea-horses; and, as we were in want of fresh provisions, the boats from each ship were sent to get some.

By seven o’clock in the evening, we had received, on board the Resolution, nine of these animals, which, till now, we had supposed to be sea-cows; so that we were not a little disappointed, especially some of the seamen, who, for the novelty of the thing, had been feasting their eyes for some days past.  Nor would they have been disappointed now, nor have known the difference, if we had not happened to have one or two on board, who had been in Greenland, and declared what animals these were, and that no one ever eat of them.  But, notwithstanding this, we lived upon them as long as they lasted; and there were few on board who did not prefer them to our salt meat.

The fat; at first, is as sweet as marrow; but in a few days it grows rancid, unless it be salted, in which state it will keep much longer.  The lean flesh is coarse, black, and has rather a strong taste; and the heart is nearly as well tasted as that of a bullock.  The fat, when melted, yields a good deal of oil, which burns very well in lamps; and their hides, which are very thick, were very useful about our rigging.  The teeth or tusks of most of them were, at this time, very small; even some of the largest and oldest of these animals had them not exceeding six inches in length.  From this we concluded, that they had lately shed their old teeth.

They lie, in herds of many hundreds, upon the ice, huddling one over the other like swine, and roar or bray very loud, so that, in the night or in foggy weather, they gave us notice of the vicinity of the ice before we could see it.  We never found the whole herd asleep, some being always upon the watch.  These, on the approach of the boat, would wake those next to them, and the alarm being thus gradually communicated, the whole herd would be awake presently.  But they were seldom in a hurry to get away, till after they had once been fired at.  Then they would tumble one over the other, into the sea, in the utmost confusion.  And if we did not, at the first discharge, kill those we fired at, we generally lost them, though mortally wounded.  They did not appear to us to be that dangerous animal some authors have described, not even when attacked.  They are rather more so to appearance than in reality.  Vast numbers of them would follow, and come close up to the boats.  But the flash of a musket in the pan, or even the bare pointing of one at them, would send them down in an instant.  The female will defend the young one to the very last, and at the expense of her own life, whether in the water, or upon the ice.  Nor will the young one quit the dam, though she be dead; so that, if you kill one, you are sure of the other.  The dam, when in the water, holds the young one between her fore-fins.