482 Chapter VIII. 



"Monday, October i5th. Went snow-shoeing east- 

 wards this morning, still against the same wind and the 

 same snowfall. You have to pay careful attention to 

 your course these clays, as the ship is not visible any 

 great distance, and, if you did not find your way back, 

 well- -. But the tracks remain pretty distinct, as 

 the snow-crust is blown bare in most places, and the 

 drifting snow does not fasten upon it. We are moving 

 northwards, and meanwhile the Arctic night is making- 

 its slow and majestic entrance. The sun was low to-day ; 

 I did not see it because of banks of cloud in the south, 

 but it still sent its light up over the pale sky. There the 

 full moon is now reigning, bathing the great ice plain and 

 the drifting snow in its bright light. How a night such 

 as this raises one's thoughts ! It does not matter if 

 one has seen the like a thousand times before : it makes 

 the same solemn impression when it comes again ; one 

 cannot free one's mind from its power. It is like entering- 

 a still, holy temple, where the spirit of nature hovers 

 through the place on o-Htterino- silver beams, and the 



O 1 O O 



soul must fall clown and adore adore the infinity of the 

 universe. 



"Wednesday, October i7th. We are employed in 

 taking deep-water temperatures. It is a doubtful 

 pleasure at this time of year. Sometimes the water- 

 lifter gets coated with ice, so that it will not close 

 down below in the water, and has therefore to hang for 

 ever so long each time ; and sometimes it freezes tioht 



