366 DIVERSIONS. [chap. VI. 



short, from north, south, east, and west, the 

 attempt has been made, and in all equally with- 

 out effect ; and yet, with a tolerably open 

 season, the whole affair is within the accomplish- 

 ment of six months. 



The crew were variously employed, but 

 principally in removing the ice from under the 

 fore-foot, the bend of which was literally above 

 the level of the sea, now ascertained by the 

 bursting up of the water from beneath ; on the 

 other hand, the stern-post was immersed or 

 imbedded a little more than nine feet. The 

 officers also had their occupations : some of the 

 keener sportsmen lurked for the chance of a 

 shot ; others were speculating on the possibility 

 of coaxing the ship's peas to germinate in a 

 heterogeneous composition of coal dust. A 

 fishing line, too, was set, but the most per- 

 severing had not been rewarded even by a 

 nibble. My aim was to encourage every thing 

 that could relieve the mind by abstracting it 

 from a too fixed attention to our situation ; and 

 as there were no complaints, it is fair to pre- 

 sume that the end was in a great measure 

 attained. Though the temperature at noon was 

 4G° + , and witli a blackened bulb thermo- 

 meter 66° in the sun, yet it had been as low 

 as 29° + in the night, and consequently the fresh 

 and brackish pools were once more coated with 



