334 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. 



flying high and steering west. No doubt they were 

 bound for some Land in that direction, but though we 

 strained our eyes and glasses as the sun got around 

 there we could see none of it. Removed our cabin 

 porches to-day, letting in much desired light. 



May 1st, Saturday. — Sun visible at midnight. The 

 month of May set in with as clear, bright, and beautiful 

 weather as I ever saw, and even the grim, icy monot- 

 ony of our surroundings was not enough to prevent us 

 from enjoying it. A bright sun, absolutely cloudless 

 sky, and a temperature during the afternoon of from 

 27.5° to 29.8°, made up together a romantic Arctic 

 day, needing only navigable water to make it perfection 

 itself. Such a thing as remaining on board ship was 

 out of the question. Everybody except Danenhower 

 was ' out on the ice. Doors were thrown wide open, 

 fires were let die out, and all hands gave themselves up 

 to basking in the beauty without. It may be hard to 

 believe, but really some of us were sunburned to a bril- 

 liant red. The dogs actually panted wdth the heat, and 

 were disagreeably warm to the touch. Our spare sails, 

 which have been exposed all winter to the weather on 

 the poop, were overhauled and found in perfect condi- 

 tion, having suffered no injury wdiatever, and were 

 treated to a sunning ; and generally such an airing of 

 clothing, bedding, and aw^nings took place, and such a 

 pleasurable bustle, that one was led to look with some 

 expectation to a brighter progress in our movements 

 than had heretofore characterized them. To make the 

 day still more eventful, the sun, which had risen at 

 0.55', remained with his upper limb above the horizon 

 at midnight, as if loath to quit so pleasant a scene. By 

 a curious freak of temperature common to us of late, 

 the thermometer commenced to fall as soon as the sun 



