298 ARCTIC VOYAGES. Chap. IX. 



" We halted for the night at half an hour before mid- 

 night, the people being almost exhausted with a laborious 

 day's work, and our distance made good to the northward 

 not exceeding two miles and a quarter. We allowed our- 

 selves this night a hot supper, consisting of a pint of soup 

 per man, made of an ounce of pemmican each, and eight or 

 ten birds which we had killed in the course of the last week ; 

 and this was a luxury which persons thus situated could 

 perhaps alone duly appreciate. We had seen in the course 

 of the day a few rotges, a dovekie, a loom, a mollemuck, 

 and two or three very small seals." — p. 70. 



On the 12th of July they had reached the latitude 

 82° 14' 28"; a brilliant day and clear sky over- 

 head, " an absolute luxury to us." The pools and 

 streams on the floes increased, and caused the men 

 to make a very circuitous route. " If anything 

 could have compensated for the delay these occa- 

 sioned us, it would have been the beautiful blue 

 colour peculiar to these super-glacial lakes, which 

 is certainly one of the most pleasing tints in nature.' ' 

 The next day they were in lat. 82° IT 10"; no bot- 

 tom with 400 fathoms of line ; temperature of water 

 brought up, 31°; of surface water, 32J°; of the ice, 

 33°; of the air, 36°. "On this day we saw," 

 says Parry, " during this last journey, a mollemuck, 

 and a second Ross gull ; and a couple of small flies 

 (to us an event of ridiculous importance) were found 

 upon the ice," but whether living or dead, is not 

 recorded. 



No improvement on the 14th, after five hours' 

 unceasing labour; the progress was a mile and a 



