FROM NEW YORK TO ETAH 19 



of kittiwakes were flying about the ship, and several 

 guillemots in the water dove to let us pass. 



Thursday, Aug. ^d. — ^A foggy night and cold. This 

 morning the sun shining through a low-lying fog, and 

 a light, but particularly penetrating easterly breeze, 

 the breath of the East Greenland ice inshore of us. 



The noon sights showed us a little south of Sukker- 

 toppen, and at 2 p. m. an opening in the fog showed 

 us the Sukkertoppen Islands on the starboard bow. 

 We are past the East Coast ice without seeing a cake 

 of it. Since supper dense fog. 



Friday, Aug. 4th. — Thick fog all night until about 

 6:30 A. M., when it began to lift, showing us the bold 

 Greenland Mountains, near Holsteinburg. Not a piece 

 of ice inshore or a berg in sight. 



We crossed the Arctic Circle at two o'clock this morn- 

 ing, and Percy, the steward, asserts that the bump when 

 the ship went over it, woke him up!! 



In regard to smoothness of sea, peacefulness of 

 weather, entire absence of ice, and scarcity of bergs, 

 the voyage from Sydney to the Arctic Circle has been 

 most unusual even for this season of the year. With 

 the exception of the few rolls just outside of Sydney 

 Harbour, there has not been enough motion of the 

 ship to spill a glass of water. 



The noon sights give us 67° 37' north latitude. 

 The water, like glass, and the cliffs of Disco 

 visible 95 miles away. In 68° we passed through 

 a fleet of twenty-seven bergs, the output of the 

 Disco Bay glaciers. During the afternoon a few 



