FROZEN UP. 99 



success, and the schooner was once more m safety. 

 The air falhng calm, and the temperature going down 

 to 10° below zero, we were now soon firmly frozen up, 

 and were protected against any further accidents of 

 this nature, and were rejoiced to find ourselves able 

 to run over the bay in security. In anticipation of 

 this event, I had set Jensen and Peter to work mak- 

 ing harness for the dogs, and on that day I took the 

 first drive with one of my teams. The animals had 

 picked up finely, and were in excellent condition, and 

 I had satisfied myself both as to their qualities and 

 those of their driver, Jensen. The day was indeed a 

 lively one to all hands. The ice having closed up 

 firmly with the land, the necessity no longer existed 

 for keeping a channel open for the boats ; and the 

 hunters, being able now to get ashore with ease, set 

 off" early in the morning, in great glee, after reindeer. 



On the day following, the hawsers by which we had 

 thus far been moored to the rocks were cut out of the 

 ice and elevated on blocks of the same material. We 

 also made a stairway of slabs of this same cheap Arc- 

 tic alabaster, from the upper deck down to the frozen 

 sea ; and, a deep snow falling soon afterward, we 

 banked this up against the schooner's sides as a fur- 

 ther protection against the cold. 



During the next few days the teams were employed 

 in collecting the reindeer which had been cached in 

 various places, and when this labor w^as completed our 

 inventory of fresh supplies was calculated to inspire 

 very agreeable sensations. 



The schooner being now snugly cradled in the ice, 

 we had no longer occasion for the nautical routine, so 

 I adopted a landsman's watch, with one officer and 

 one sailor; the sea day, which commences at noon. 



