EXCESSIVE COLD. 133 



a crust through which the foot broke at every step, 

 thus making the travehng very laborious. 



About twenty-five miles were made during the fol- 

 lowing day, the track being of the same character as 

 the day before, and at about the same elevation ; but 

 the condition of my party warned me against the 

 hazard of continuing the journey. The temperature 

 had fallen to 30° below zero, and a fierce gale of wind 

 meeting us in the face, drove us into our tent for shel- 

 ter, and, after resting there for a few hours, compelled 

 our return. I had, however, accomplished the princi- 

 pal purpose of my journey, and had not in any case 

 intended to proceed more than one day further, at 

 this critical period of the year. 



My party had not yet become sufficiently inured to 

 exposure at such low temperatures to enable them 

 to bear it without risk. They were all more or less 

 touched wdth the frost, and the faces of two of them 

 had been so often frozen that they had become very 

 painful and much swollen, and their feet being con- 

 stantly cold, I was fearful of some serious accident 

 if we did not speedily seek safety at a lower level. 

 The temperature fell to 34° below zero during the 

 night, and it is a circumstance worthy of mention 

 that the lowest record of the thermometer at Port 

 Foulke, during our absence, was 22° higher. The men 

 conij)lained bitterly, and could not sleep. One of 

 them seemed likely to give up altogether, and I was 

 compelled to send him into the open air to save him- 

 self froni perishing by a vigorous walk. 



The storm steadily increased in force, and, the tem- 

 perature falling lower and lower, we were all at length 

 forced to quit the tent, and in active exercise strive to 

 prevent ourselves from freezing. To face the wind 



