ANOTHER TRIAL. 89 



beaching the vessel, and this, in the uncertain state 

 of the ice and weather, was not practicable. The rud- 

 der hung by one pintle, and after being mended was 

 still unreliable. 



While McCormick was making these repairs I pulled 

 up to Littleton Island in a whale-boat, to see what the 

 ice had been doing in our absence. The wind was 

 dead ahead, and we had a hard struggle to reach our 

 destination ; but, once there, I found some encourage- 

 ment. There was much open water along the coast 

 up to Cape Hatherton, but the pack was even more 

 heavy at the west and southwest than it had been be- 

 fore. To enter it would be folly, even with a fah^ 

 wind and a sound ship. There was clearly no chance 

 of getting to the west coast, except by the course 

 which I had attempted with such unhappy results two 

 days previous. 



We were not a little surprised to discover on Little- 

 ton Island a reindeer. He was sound asleep, coiled 

 up on a bed of snow. Dodge's rifle secured him for 

 our larder and deprived the desolate island of its only 

 inhabitant. 



During our absence, Jensen had been out with 

 Hans, and had also discovered deer. They had found 

 a herd numbering something like a dozen. Two of 

 them were captured, but the rest, taking alarm, es- 

 caped to the mountains. 



The wind falling away to calm, we got to sea next 

 day under oars, and again entered the pack. More 

 ice had come down upon the island, and all our efforts 

 to push up the coast were unavailing. The air had 

 become alarmingly quiet, considering that the tem- 

 perature was within twelve degrees of zero, and there 

 was much fear that we should be frozen up at sea. 



