midnight
It was nine o'clock when the two explorers left the fort and turned towards that part of the coast between Port Barnett and Cape Michael . They followed the beach for about two miles , and found the ice-field in a state of positive chaos . The sea was one vast aggregation of crystals of every size , it looked as if it had been petrified suddenly when tossing in a tempest , and , alas , there was even now no free passage between the ice-masses -- it would be impossible for a boat to pass yet . Hobson and Long remained on the ice-field talking and looking about them until midnight , and then seeing that there was still nothing to do but to wait , they decided to go back to Fort Hope and rest for a few hours . They had gone some hundred paces , and had reached the dried-up bed of Paulina River , when an unexpected noise arrested them . It was a distant rumbling from the northern part of the ice-field , and it became louder and louder until it was almost deafening . Something dreadful was going on in the quarter from which it came , and Hobson fancied he felt the ice beneath his feet trembling , which was certainly far from reassuring .