A FROZEN SUMMER. 425 



should be melted and the water examined ; but this 

 would consume more fuel than any ship could spare, 

 and consequently it is out of the question. 



The idea that I desire to fix is, that sea-water ice, 

 under whatever circumstances it may be found, whether 

 of temperature of the air at time of freezing, or num- 

 ber of thaws and re-freezings, or age, or thickness, or 

 location, is a treacherous and unsafe element to use on 

 an Arctic expedition, as an internal application ; and no 

 matter how much care may be exercised in its exami- 

 nation and test, the chances are ninety-nine in a hun- 

 dred that sufficient salt will be received into the system 

 by continued use to enfeeble it and prepare it for scor- 

 butic attacks under any unusual exposure or exertion, 

 even if its use does not produce scurvy alone and un- 

 aided. Having thus disposed of the salt question, about 

 two lines will describe to-day's arrival and departure. 

 A few hours' sunshine in spots, in early morning and at 

 three p. m., fo": and mist thence till midnig-ht. 



August 22d, Sunday. — The thirty-sixth anniversary 

 of my birth, and but for an episode in the afternoon it 

 might have passed away without reference. 



Of late I have each afternoon been accustomed to 

 take the dingy and scull around and through the little 

 streams of water that have formed in our surrounding 

 floe, watching the wasting of the ice, and making out 

 in my own mind where a break may occur by connect- 

 ing the several holes wasted clear through to the deep 

 water. So narrow are these little streams, that in some 

 of them one has just room enough to use two oars and 

 row, and in many he is obliged to scull. So winding 

 and intricate are they, that I am reminded of the maze 

 at Hampton Court as presenting a parallel. 



This afternoon I started off as usual alone, and had 



