134 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. 



obtain our position by observation, — latitude 72** 10' 

 23'' N., longitude 175° 26' 22" W., — and from this po- 

 sition we establish the fact that in four days we have 

 drifted twenty miles to the north, one degree west, or 

 at the rate of five miles a day. Herald Island is al- 

 most a thing of the past. It is now but a small patch 

 in the horizon, difficult to separate from the interven- 

 ing hummocks. From ten to eleven p. m. have a fine 

 aurora. The ship still altering her heading in the last 

 twenty-four hours from S. W. and h S. to W. by N., 

 both magnetic. 



SeiJtemher 2Ath, Wednesday. — At two A. m. the ther- 

 mometer registered 7°, our lowest thus far, and the 

 temperature gradually rose until at noon it reached 24°, 

 and remained nearly the same to close of day. Ob- 

 tained to-day longitude only, — 175** 21' W., — show- 

 ing a drift of seven miles to the east in two days. 



This drift of ours is in no sense uniform or capable of 

 being foreseen. It does not depend seemingly upon the 

 wind, for it is different with the same winds at different 

 times. That even light winds occasion drift and press- 

 ure is evident from the fact that the ice about a mile 

 from the ship in all directions is constantly assuming 

 new shapes. We seem to be held in the centre of a 

 large floe, sufficiently strong to save a severe nip to the 

 ship and to resist pressure on its edges. A mile from 

 the ship in any direction new ice six inches thick is 

 piled up in tables from six to twenty feet in height by 

 the coming together of floes. One day we find large 

 spaces of water, the next day we find the spaces nar- 

 rowing, and the third day the spaces are closed and 

 slabs of new ice six inches thick are piled up on end 

 like a confused fence six, twelve, and eighteen feet 

 high. We seem to move only in azimuth, remaining 



