158 CRUSHING OF ICE. 



laughter, plentiful plaudits, and in conclusion, 

 three hearty cheers. After the performance, 

 the dramatis personam, with the other officers, 

 passed a few hours together ; and I question 

 whether in any other quarter of the globe, an 

 equal number could be found more free from 

 care than were the merry group so assembled. 



The sea, however, was not charmed into inac- 

 tivity, for the usual grating noise was heard by 

 the watch on deck, and in the morning the floe 

 was found to have turned in more towards the 

 shore. A drift was skimming over the ice, 

 which rendered walking, even with the advan- 

 tage of snow-shoes, a more severe task than was 

 agreeable ; but being desirous to see what effect 

 had been produced by the uproar of the night, 

 I went to our nearest boundary, and found that 

 it had suffered further encroachment, and was 

 crushed and thrown up like the rest beyond it. 

 Dark, and therefore recently formed ice, occu- 

 pied some conspicuous openings, though this 

 could scarcely last beyond the next tide. 



December 3d. The temperature now began 

 to decrease rapidly. The difference between 

 Pastorelli's thermometer and mine, made by 

 Newman (the same which I had with me on my 

 last expedition), amounted to eight degrees, the 

 former being 31°-, and the latter 42° — . I 

 determined to test them by exposing a saucer 

 of mercury to the atmosphere. In the course 



