416 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. 



August Qth, Friday. — At last I have good observa- 

 tions, and I find the ship is in latitude N. 73° 2V 30", 

 and longitude W. 177° 14' 45". Since the 2d we have 

 drifted twenty-four miles to N. 86° E., or six miles a 

 day ; I am disappointed, because I expected to find a 

 greater distance accomplished. We have had as much 

 wind in the past four days as we can expect during 

 mid-summer, and the conditions of ice loosening are, 

 one would suppose, at their most favorable point. It 

 seems a certainty, therefore, that there is no expanse of 

 open water east of us, and the ice is not slack enough 

 to afford a passage. As day after day passes by, and 

 no chance offers to accomplish anything, I feel my 

 heart sink. To have zeal and energy enough to dare 

 anything, and be held like a rat in a trap, seems the 

 irony of fate. 



August 9th, Monday. — Observations place us in lat- 

 itude N. 73° li4' 32", longitude W. 176° 39' 15", a drift 

 of one and seven tenths miles N. 22° E. since yesterday. 

 We sound in thirty-nine fathoms, — and the lead line 

 shows no perceptible drift; we have therefore come 

 to a stand again, and unless something we know not of 

 works in our favor, we shall probably zigzag again 

 without aim or result. I cannot find words in any lan- 

 guage which will express the sense of utter disappoint- 

 ment, shame, and mortification with which I am filled, 

 in seeing a second summer fade away with nothing ac- 

 complished. 



August 10th, Tuesday. — A gloomy, dreary, unevent- 

 ful day. Fog or rain all the time. 



August 11th, Wednesday. — Apparently our situation 

 is growing worse each day instead of better. We made 

 the unpleasant discovery to-day that the amount of the 

 leak is increasing ; for during the last twenty - four 



