182 THE TIDE-REGISTER. 



has not, at any time, reached the freezing point, and 

 the ice on which the snow rests is over three feet 

 thick. There would appear to be a sort of an osmotic 

 action taking place. Snow is now beginning to fall, 

 and, as usual, it is very light and beautifully and reg- 

 ularly crystalized. The depth of snow which has 

 fallen up to this time is 15^ inches. 



November 13th. 



Worse and worse. The temperature has risen again, 

 and the roof over the upper deck gives us once more 

 a worse than tropic shower. The snow next the ice 

 grows more slushy, and this I am more than ever puz- 

 zled to understand, since I have found to-day that the 

 ice, two feet below the surface, has a temperature of 

 20° ; at the surface it is 19°, and the snow in contact 

 with it is 18°. The water is 29°. 



The darkness is not yet quite absolute. With some 

 difficulty I can still see to read ordinary print at noon. 



November 14th. 



The wind has been blowing for nearly twenty-four < 

 hours from the northeast, and yet the temperature 

 holds on as before. At 10 o'clock this evening it was i 

 4g°. I have done with speculation. A warm wind 

 from the mer de glace, and this boundless reservoir of 

 Greenland frost, makes mischief with my theories, as 

 facts have heretofore done with the theories of wiser 

 men. As long as the wind came from the sea I could 

 find some excuse for the unseasonable warmth. 



I have rigged a new tide-register to-day, with the 

 aid of McCormick, my man of all ingenious work. If 

 it prove as effective as it is simple, I shall have a good 

 registry of the Port Foulke tides. It is but a light 



