CHAPTER XXIV. 



MR NEWCOMB'S NARRATIVE. 

 (CONTINUED). 



DURING the summer of 1880 the ice had been compara- 

 tively quiet, but by October it was grinding, smash- 

 ing, and piling up in many places in a manner fatal to any 

 ship caught by it. The mercury fell to 45 degrees by the 

 middle of this month, and the snow would give a metallic 

 ring at each footfall, loud enough to interfere with ordinary 

 conversation. Standing near some of these conflicts be- 

 tween grinding floes, one first would realize the pressure by 



CONFLICT OF THE FLOES. 



the humming, buzzing sound ; then a pulsation is felt. 

 Something must give. Bang goes the ice right under foot, 

 with a report like a big gun. Although you are watching, it 

 startles you. It upheaves, lifts you with it, and you must 

 step back to a safer place. I have often taken these rides. 

 There is a wonderful fascination about it. 



On November 10th the sun was seen by refraction ; on 

 the llth it left us. The temperature this month varied a 



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