450 Chapter VII. 



however slowly, and it begins already to announce itself, 

 for there were four degrees of cold last night." 



"Sunday, August 26th, It seems almost as if winter 

 had come, the cold has kept on an average between 

 24-8 F. (-4 C.)and 21-2 F. (-6 C.) since Thursday. 

 There are only slight variations in the temperature up 

 here, so we may expect it to fall regularly from this time 

 forth, though it is rather early for winter to set in. All 

 the pools and lanes are covered with ice, thick enough 

 to bear a man, even without snow-shoes. 



" I went out on my snow-shoes both morning and 

 afternoon. The surface was beautiful everywhere. 

 Some of the lanes had opened out, or been com- 

 pressed a little, so that the new ice was thin, and bent 

 unpleasantly under the snow-shoes ; but it bore me, 

 though two of the dogs fell through. A good deal of 

 snow had fallen, so there was fine, soft new snow to 

 travel over. If it keeps on as it is now, there will be 

 excellent snow-shoeing in the winter ; for it is fresh 'water 

 that now freezes on the surface, so that there is no salt 

 that the wind can carry from the new ice to spoil the 

 snow all around, as was the case last winter. Such snow 

 with salt in it makes as heavy a surface as sand. 



' Monday, August 27th. Just as Blessing was going 

 below after his watch to-night, and was standing by the 

 rail looking out, he saw a white form that lay rolling- in 



J O 



the snow a little way off to the south-east. Afterwards 

 it remained for a while lying quite still. Johansen, who 





