196 PARRY'S POLAR ATTEMPT. 



awnings, an entrance being left at the bow. 

 Every man immediately put on dry stockings, 

 and fur boots. . . . Most of the officers and 

 men then smoked their pipes, which served to 

 dry the boats and awnings very much, and 

 usually raised the temperature of our lodging 

 10° or 15°. This part of the twenty-four hours 

 was often a time, and the only one, of real 

 enjoyment to us; the men told their stories, 

 and 'fought all their battles o'er again;' and 

 the labours of the day, unsuccessful as they too 

 often were, were forgotten. A regular watch 

 was set during our resting time, to look out for 

 bears, or for the ice breaking up around us ; we 

 then concluded our day with prayers." 



With this daily routine of labour and rest, 

 of privation and comfort, and occasionally en- 

 countering every species of fatigue and dis- 

 heartening obstacles, in peril of their lives 

 almost every hour, the little party advanced to 

 the latitude of 82° 43' N. on the 22nd of July ; 

 but here, and for several days before, they found, 

 in addition to the many impediments which they 

 had to encounter, they had to contend with a 

 current setting nearly in the opposite direction 

 to that in which they were travelling. This 

 new and unexpected impediment was dishearten- 

 ing in the extreme; still Sir Edward kept up 



