244 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. 



from minus 32° to minus 23°, and falls again to minus 

 26°. Eight inches of ice formed over sounding hole 

 since yesterday. Upon attempting to measure the 

 present thickness of the floe, which, on the 4th, was 

 five feet four inches thick, it was found that another 

 floe had shoved in under it. I am inclined to think that 

 has been the case all around us, and that perhaps om' 

 controlling the leak has been due to the underlying 

 floes of ice uniting by freezing and lowering the water 

 head in the vicinity of the leak. If that be the case, 

 we shall have our hands full again at a breaking up. 



February 7th, Saturday. — I remarked in yesterday's 

 journal that we discovered the pipe of the main engine 

 bilge-pump frozen solid, and that while we were thaw- 

 ing it the day closed. At the same time the crank was 

 shortened so as to diminish the stroke of the steam- 

 cutter's engine. Everything being in readiness we gave 

 the rig another trial, but it would not work satisfacto- 

 rily. True, it did pump water, but with such jerky 

 and labored efforts on the part of the engine that we 

 could readily see it was being overtaxed. The pump 

 was too large for the engine. The rig was therefore 

 discontinued, while Melville put his people at work to 

 boush the pump with Babbitt's metal, and insert a 

 smaller plunger, converting a single-acting piston-pump 

 of six inches diameter into a single-acting plunger-pump 

 of three inches diameter. This will take a couple of 

 days, and in the mean time steam must be kept on the 

 main boiler. At the end of the day I am thinking of 

 trying the Baxter pump alone. 



At nine the sun was raised a full diameter above the 

 horizon by refraction. Extraordinary mirage from nine 

 imtil afternoon. Extremely variable winds, at times 

 shifting sixteen points at once. Mirage affected by 



