Aug. 1 857. MELVILLE BAY. 29 



CHAPTER III. 



Melville Bay— Crow's-nest — Beset in Melville Bay— Signs of winter 

 — The coming storm — Drifting in the pack — Canine appetite — 

 Resigned to a winter in the pack — Dinner stolen by sharks — The 

 arctic shark — White whales and Killers. 



\^th Aug. — Three days of the most perfect calm have 

 sadly taxed our patience. Lovely bright weather, but 

 scarcely a living creature seen. This afternoon the anxiously- 

 looked-for north wind sprang up, and immediately the light 

 ice began to drift away before it, but it is not strong enough 

 to influence the icebergs, and they greatly retard the clearing- 

 out of the bay. We have noticed a constant wind off the 

 glacier, probably the result of its cooling effect upon the 

 atmosphere ; this wind does not extend more than 3 or 4 

 miles out from it. We are lying alongside an iceberg ; from 

 the pools upon its surface we obtain the most delicious 

 water : the Doctor has clambered all over it in search for 

 extraneous matter, boulders, mud, &c, but without success. 

 The dogs have been put upon it, and they enjoy the com- 

 parative freedom of space which it affords ; occasionally 

 they survey the prospect from its loftiest peak, frequently 

 they fight, and, then unwarily approaching too near to its 

 glassy slopes, tumble into the sea; when this happens the 

 whole pack give us notice by setting up a prolonged melan- 

 choly howl, peculiar to wolves and Esquimaux dogs; — 

 What's the row now ? Oh, it's only another dog overboard ! 

 The dog swims to the ship, allows himself to be pulled up in 

 the bight of a rope, and for the time tranquillity is restored. 



