TIDE SEPARATES ICE. 103 



condenser and other precautions, the most unre- 

 mitting attention of the proper officers could 

 not altogether prevent the accumulation of mois- 

 ture in particular spots. In such cases, our only 

 remedy was to use the stoves belonging to the 

 boats, and as these, having no funnels to carry off 

 the smoke, almost suffocated us, it will be readily 

 believed that nothing but necessity induced us 

 to resort to them. It was found, moreover, that 

 the hot air from below froze against the inside of 

 the housing, producing a most disagreeable efflu- 

 via : to counteract this, a square hole was cut in 

 the roof of the housing, whicli being opened 

 occasionally had the desired effect. But these 

 inconveniences were trifles in comparison with 

 what might have been expected from the failure 

 of the heating apparatus. 



Though the clear weather which so unexpect- 

 edly continued was free from fresh winds, yet 

 the tides separated the ice, so as to leave open 

 places in various directions. Through the night 

 there had been a squall or two from the south- 

 east, and on the morning of the 10th a broad 

 lane of partly open water was seen to extend 

 round the floe to seaward, and to maintain a 

 continuous line directly towards the land, east of 

 Cape Bylot. Ice and a water sky were observable 

 beyond that again, but there was no connecting 

 channel or opening from the one lane to the other* 



m 2 



