A FROZEN SUMMER. 421 



its thickness could no longer be accurately measured, 

 because of under-riding floes; but it is reasonable to 

 suppose that it got a thickness of seven feet. On 

 the 13th July that ice was five feet in thickness; to- 

 day it is three feet five inches thick. Either we have 

 had our summer, or are yet to have it, which latter 

 sounds absurd on this 18th day of August. If the for- 

 mer surmise is correct, three feet seven inches may be 

 taken as the thaw of one summer, and the remaining: 

 three feet five inches will form a basis for next win- 

 ter. Already our little ponds have frozen over during 

 the night, and remain frozen until noon of the next 

 day. Thus much being said of ice which we have 

 seen grow around us, how are we to discuss ice wdiich 

 is twelve feet, twenty-two feet, twenty-four feet, thirty 

 feet, and forty feet in constant thickness ? We see ice 

 which has been piled up in confused masses twenty-four 

 feet above the surface of the water, and can but guess 

 at its thickness below. We drop a lead down to a pro- 

 jecting tongue twelve feet, and think ^ye have the thick- 

 ness of that floe at all events ; but lo ! a little further 

 and we see another projecting tongue, or perhaps a 

 third, or when we get to twenty-two feet we cannot 

 obtain an up and down sounding by reason of surface 

 irregularity. 



August ISih, Wednesday. — Another day of ice scen- 

 ery without any perceptible change in our surroundings. 

 A marvelous temperature ranguig between 31° and 40° 

 makes me hope for some decent weather. To me to- 

 day the temperature has been sultry and at times op- 

 pressive, the generally pervading fog seeming to inten- 

 sify the effect of the heat. To our great surprise we 

 get forty-four fathoms, with mud, gravel, and fine white 

 sand. 



