THE RETURN OF DAYLIGHT. 293 



minus 22°, and the lowest minus 53°. So much of the 

 floe in which the ship is held is underrun by other floes, 

 that finding a clear place to bore for a single thickness 

 is like looking for a needle in a hay-stack. I have con- 

 cluded to wait until a fresh break will enable us to get 

 a correct vertical measurement of the thickness of ice 

 frozen since November 28th. As ice is a non-conductor 

 of heat, it follows that there must be some thickness at 

 which the ice prevents the heat escaping from the water 

 under it, and places a limit to the depth of freezing. 

 At the time the ice was four feet thick the surface 

 floated only four inches above the level of the water. 



The bear which Alexey shot yesterday was brought 

 in by him and a dog-team to-day. Nothing could be 

 seen of the cub. 



For the first time in the memory of the individuals 

 of this expedition we have seen a ITtli of March (St. 

 Patrick's Day) that was not stormy. One of our dogs, 

 an old one, having a comical and quizzical counte- 

 nance, had long since been named " Paddy," and to- 

 day he was treated to a piece of green ribbon around 

 his neck, and jDlaced alongside of the Baxter engine, a 

 proceeding so unusual as to occasion him considerable 

 astonishment. The dogs in general, and the names 

 given to some of them, merit a special mention, which 

 I shall give them some day. Kasmatka, Tom, Quick- 

 silver, Jack or Prince, Smike, Snoozer, Bismarck, Paddy, 

 Skinny, Foxy, Plug Ugly, Dewclaws, Joe and Jim, 

 Johnn}^ Armstrong, Dan, and Wolf. 



Mardi ISth, Thursday. — Land was sighted in the 

 afternoon bearing S., — the direction of the north side 

 of Wrangel Land. The sky became streaky and ugly 

 looking, promising some bad weather. The wind com- 

 menced to moan through the rigging sharply. By 



