SURVEYING. 151 







Sonntag has given me a report of work clone during 

 my absence, and so has McCormick. With Jensen I 

 have had a talk about the hunt. I have dined with 

 the officers, and all goes " merry as a marriage bell." 

 My companions on the journey have recovered from 

 their fatigue, and they seem none the worse for the 

 tramp, except such of them as have been touched by 

 the frost; and these look sorry enough. They get 

 little consolation from their shipmates. 



I am much gratified to find that every thing has 

 gone on so smoothly while I was away. Sonntag has 

 been twice to the glacier, and has finished the survey 

 and made some spirited sketches. He has also done 

 some valuable work on a base line, accurately meas- 

 ured upon the ice of the outer bay. This base line 

 is 9100 feet long, and his triangulations give the fol- 

 lowing distances from the western point of Starr 

 Island : — 



To Cape Alexander, 8 nautical miles. 

 " " Isabella, 31 " 

 " " Sabine, 42 



My commands respecting the hunt have been care- 

 fully observed, and numerous additions have been 

 made to our rapidly accumulating stock of fresh food. 

 This gives me much gratification. My experience 

 with Dr. Kane has led me to believe that the scurvy, 

 hitherto so often fatal to Arctic travelers, may be 

 readily avoided by the liberal use of a fresh animal 

 diet ; and, although I have a fair supply of canned 

 meats and a good allowance of fresh vegetables, yet 

 I do not wish to depend wholly upon them ; and, in 

 order to make assurance doubly sure, I have endeav- 

 ored to spare no pains in securing whatever game is 

 within our reach. Accordingly I have always had a 





