196 RETURN OF THE SUN. . Chap. XII. 



short, doing all things necessary to enable us to turn out 

 upon the ice, to encamp upon it, and to march over it for 

 months, from February until June or July, under a tempera- 

 ture which may be expected to range through ioo° — from 

 50 below zero to 50 above it. How to accomplish this is 

 a most deeply interesting problem, and one that taxes our 

 utmost ingenuity. 



2&h. — Part of the sun's disc loomed above the horizon 

 to-day, somewhat swollen and disfigured by the misty atmo- 

 sphere, but looking benevolent withal. I happened to be 

 diligently traversing the rocky hill-sides in the hope of find- 

 ing some solitary hare dozing in fancied security, when the 

 sun thus appeared in view, and I halted to feast my eyes 

 upon the glorious sight, and to scan the features of our 

 returning friend after an absence of seventy-three days. 

 Hope and promise mingled in his bright beams. Again I 

 moved upward, and with more elastic step; for now the 

 sun of 1859 was shining upon all nature around me. On 

 looking over the records of previous voyages I find that the 

 average amount of refraction upon the horizon is about 45 

 minutes of arc, the temperature being — 35 . Last year, 

 when the sun reappeared on 28th January, there was 59 

 minutes of refraction, and the temperature at the time 



was -38° 



2nd February. — A lovely, calm, bright day, and beauti- 

 fully clear, except over the water-space in Bellot Strait, 

 where rests a densely black mist, very strongly resembling 

 the West Indian rain-squall as it looms upon the distant 

 horizon. The increasing sunlight is cheering, but void of 

 heat, and the mercury is often frozen. A few more ptar- 

 migan have been shot. 



Our remaining serviceable dogs, twenty-two in number, 

 have been divided with great care into three teams of seven 

 each'; the odd dog is added to my team, as my journey 



