290 ARCTIC VOYAGES. Chap. IX. 



our final leave of the Spitzbergen shores, as we 

 hoped, for at least two months. The walruses here 

 were very numerous, lying in herds upon the ice, 

 and plunging into the water to follow us as we 

 passed. The sound they utter is something between 

 bellowing and very loud snorting, which, together 

 with their grim, bearded countenances, and long 

 tusks, make them appear, as indeed they are, rather 

 formidable enemies to contend with. 



" Steering due north, we made good progress, 

 our latitude, by the sun's meridian altitude at mid- 

 night, being 80° 51' 13". At noon the next day, 

 after a run of two hours in open water, with a 

 westerly wind, we were stopped by close ice, and 

 obliged to haul the boats upon a small floe-piece ; 

 the latitude by observation being 81° 12' 51." 



As this voyage is of so bold and daring a cha- 

 racter, and in all its circumstances so novel and 

 perfectly unique, no description of it, except in the 

 words of the commander of the Enterprise himself, 

 can convey to the reader an adequate idea of the 

 arrangements and the management of it. The 

 usual mode pursued by this gallant party on their 

 adventurous voyage is thus described : — 



" Our plan of travelling being nearly the same through- 

 out this excursion, after we first entered upon the ice, I may 

 at once give some account of our usual mode of proceeding. 

 It was my intention to travel wholly at night, and to rest by 

 day, there being, of course, constant daylight in these regions 

 during the summer season. The advantages of this plan, 



