CHAPTER XVI. 



THE NEW YEAR —LOOKING FOR SONNTAG. — THE AURORA BOREALIS.— A RE- 

 MARKABLE DISPLAY. — DEPTH OF SNOW. — STRANGE MILDNESS OF THi 

 "WEATHER. — THE OPEN SEA. — EVAPORATION AT LOW TEMPERATURES.— 

 LOOKING FOR THE TWILIGHT. —MY PET FOX. 



January 1st, 1861. 



The Christmas holidays have passed quickly away, 

 and the 3^ear of grace eighteen hundred and sixty-one 

 was born amid great rejoicings. We have just "rung 

 out the Old and in the New." As the clock showed 

 the midnight hour, the bell was tolled, our swivel gun 

 sent a blaze of fire from its Httle throat into the dark- 

 ness, and some fire-works went fizzing and banging 

 into the clear sky. The rockets and blue-lights 

 gleamed over the snow with a weird and strange 

 light; and the loud boom of the gun and the crash 

 of the bell echoing and reechoing through the neigh- 

 boring gorges seemed like the voices of startled spir- 

 its of the solitude. 



I now look -anxiously for the return of Sonntag and 

 Hans. Indeed, I have been prepared to see them at 

 any time within these past seven days ; for althougli 

 1 had little expectation that they would find Esqui 

 maux at Sorfalik or Peteravik, yet their speedy return 

 would not have surprised me. This is the tenth day 

 of their absence, and they have had more than ample 

 time to go even to the south side of Whale Sound 

 and come back as-ain. I am the more anxious now 

 that the moon has set, and the difficulties of traveling 



