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L. P. Casella, who certifies that it "has been tested in the hydraulic press, as well as carefully compared with my standard, and found correct in every way, no change whatever having taken place in the instrument."

Temperatures taken by Capt. David Grey, of the Eclipse whaler :

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April 13, 15, 20.—When these three soundings were taken the ship was frozen in the pack; still there is a slight increase of temperature at the lowest depth.

END OF OBSERVATIONS.

May 14th.-Off Bear Island.

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June 6, 8.-Here Eclipse was 75 miles inside the pack.

June 18, 23, July 3.-Made fast to a large floe, about 90 miles inside the pack.

[graphic]

CHAPTER VI.

"Ye who love the haunts of nature,
Love the shadow of the forest,
Love the wind among the branches,
And the rushing of great rivers
Through the palisades of pine trees,
And the thunder of the mountains,
Whose innumerable echoes

Flap like eagles in the eyries,
Come not here."

TUESDAY, the 13th, brought the wind round to the westward, and the ice naturally began to slack off. We take advantage of every turn of the ice. Now a lane opens, and with sails set we glide over the space without impediment. All our object is to keep our schooner's bows to the eastward. We can do no better than drift with the wind. The labour on board is unceasing; the men at night are divided into parties by watch and watch, all hands by day. We adopt every plan we can devise to break off the "point-ends" with our long axes, ice-slices, and crowbars. The windlasses are continually at work, the warps are out, fastened to ice-anchors; these require continual shifting. The men force the ship through

[blocks in formation]

every narrow channel. Her bows serve as a wedge to drive asunder the obstacles. Some of us, going in advance of the ship, force open a channel by pressing the larger blocks out of our way, the openings thus made soon filling up with lesser ice. But after all our exertions it often happens she cannot be got into the passages we have constructed in this way. The services of the harpooners are now fully tested, and the knowledge they have gained in the old whaling ships is invaluable to us now. They know this work well, and, being accustomed to it, give confidence to the rest. A steamer would of course make light work of these difficulties which to our sailing vessel are almost insuperable.

The fog lifting at this time, we descry land, and that blue cloud which indicates unfailingly open water beneath. Now we press on down a narrow channel of some two hundred yards. A block of ice checks our course; this removed, we are in a little sea, guarded by a neck of ice which acts somewhat like a gate; this too is rent open, and we at last sail upon the open water, clear as far as the north foreland.

In the far distance we clearly see high perpendicular rocks, culminating in snowy peaks.

We now steer direct for Moffen Island, hoping to go from there to Vertigen Hook, and thence to the Seven Islands, where the Swedish Expedition intend

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building their winter residence, their object being in the following spring to start from there, when they hope to reach the North Pole in boats dragged over the ice, before it is broken up by winds, &c.

In the previous year the schooner was fortunate in gaining these islands, and had she been provided with steam-power, there was no reason to anticipate failure in sailing into the open sea to the north as they saw it clearly indicated in that direction. On that occasion she had no difficulty to contend with but the superstitious fears of the Norwegian captain and crew (the wind was blowing hard from the north-west, and the ice, scattered in every direction, was streaming to the southward, leaving occasional open water, and offering no impediment to the vessel's northward course), which could not be overcome. It is to no purpose, then, that any sailors but Englishmen can ever hope to "gain the gold," as the Arctic voyagers fondly name the object of their ambitious hopes. With an English crew we are without the least fear of failure, if all goes well with our ship. On, then, to the northeast of Spitzbergen-on towards the hunting-grounds where the walrus will supply us with fresh means of Arctic enjoyment.

It will be remembered that Parry gained the point 82° 45', and he assuredly might have gone farther north had he but started at the right season for sledge

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