408 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. 



blocks were crushed along, reared up, and tumbled over, 

 and the silent grinning " surge " with which the force 

 continued when one would suppose it counteracted and 

 ended. Here I was ready to turn back, having been 

 out three hours, and beingr wet throuo-h from wadins; 

 and being dragged through ponds too wide to go 

 around without immensely increasing the distance. 



A truly wretched day, — squally, rainy, snowy, and 

 what n'ot. At six a. m. Chipp required seven letters to 

 record the state of the weather, — o. c. m. q. p. r. s., 

 — which shows it must have been somewhat mixed. 



The surface of the water stands to-day seven feet two 

 and three fourths inches forward, and eleven feet eleven 

 and three fourths inches aft, the ship slowly coming up 

 forw^ard and settling down aft. A careful calculation 

 shows that this gradual settling is increasing the leak 

 slightly, for we now require 317 strokes of the pump in 

 twenty-four hours against 240 a week ago ; but as both 

 amounts are very trivial they are not worthy of serious 

 attention. Our windmill stands ready for work w^hen- 

 ever there is any occasion for it. 



July 2od, Friday. — Fog and mist and a little snow. 

 Are we to have no summer at all ? 



July 2ith, Saturday. — A day as uninteresting as 

 yesterday, and it seems a waste of ink and paper to 

 mention it. A little rain, a little snow, and general dis- 

 comfort. And worse than all, but one more month re- 

 mains of an Arctic season, and here we are held as if 

 in a vise. 



July 26th, Sunday. — One week more of summer has 

 passed and gone, and we seem nearer to another winter 

 than to any successful result. Regularly as clock-work 

 we perform the same duties day after day, finding each 

 morning the same surroundings we had the day before. 



