166 THE VOYAGE OF THE JE ANNETTE. 



ready four feet wide and widening, extending parallel 

 wdth the ship's length to her starboard quarter, and 

 thence across her stern, averaging one hundred yards 

 in distance. "We promptly removed the instruments 

 (anemometer, thermometers, rain-gauge, barometer, and 

 dip-circle, etc.) to the ship, setting them up there. The 

 opening kept on widening, new ice forming immediately 

 on the surface, and by midnight it was some twenty yards 

 in width. Some premonitory crashes and groans of the 

 ice added to my anxiety lest some fissures should occur 

 in our floe and make our position serious. But we did 

 not move an inch, either in our angle of heel (4°) or in 

 azimuth, and at midnight we have nothing worse to con- 

 template than an opening one hundred yards off. 



Dr. Ambler handed me to - day his report of the 

 medical examination. He considers the examination as 

 very satisfactory. Of the thirty- three persons on board, 

 the general condition of twenty-three is j)ronounced 

 " excellent," of eight " good " (I am among this party). 

 To my surjDrise, however, seven say they do not get 

 enough to eat, or sometimes do not get enough ; of 

 these seven, four are in the cabin mess. Of these four, 

 two have enough in quantity, but as some things are 

 not cooked in a shape to their liking they do not eat 

 the full ration. The remainhig two have neither suffi- 

 cient in quantity, nor liking for some articles served. 



I give the bills of fare and weights of articles of 

 food (see Appendix D), and I believe that both in 

 quantity and variety it is superior to any previous 

 Arctic experience. The surgeon expresses his opinion 

 that it is all that is necessary in both respects. How- 

 ever, rather than any one should consider himself as 

 underfed I shall probably increase the rations. If we 

 could only get a clear day we should probably find our- 



