A FROZEN SUMMER. 435 



imiim 31.7.° We continLied to-daj the work of cut- 

 ting up and dragging away the pieces of broken floe, 

 finishing it about five o'clock. All along our starboard 

 side, from the fore rigging aft, we have '' open water," 

 a hole extending diagonally across the ship's keel from 

 the starboard bow to the port quarter, and long enough 

 to float the ship in should she slip from her cradle. In 

 slueing a piece of floe this afternoon, a tongue project- 

 ing under water struck the ship's side abreast of my 

 room, and though the shock was not great, it caused 

 the ship to shake fore and aft, showing that the ice for- 

 ward is balancing her weight so nicely that but little 

 would be necessary to shake her off. I think it is a 

 question of only a few more days' thaw and the Jean- 

 nette will slide into water again, and then we shall 

 know what kind of a leak she has. 



Melville continued the work of trying to turn the 

 shaft again to-day, having allowed the water to run in 

 slowly last night through the stuffing-box of the steam 

 bearing, but little improvement was noticed. He there- 

 fore took out all the packing and let in a full head of 

 water. This did the work. All ice seemed to disap- 

 pear, and the engines, shaft, and screw could be jacked 

 to a charm. We packed the stuffing-box, and now ev- 

 erything connected with the machinery is in perfect 

 running order. 



August 2Sth, Saturday/. — By great good fortune I 

 was able to-day to get sights for a Sumner, whereby 

 I find the ship in latitude N. 73° 37', longitude W. 177'' 

 13', and that is N. 42° W., twenty-four miles from our 

 position on the 13th instant. How much we may have 

 zigzagged, or how much ground she may have gone 

 over, we shall never know. It is some consolation to 

 know even where we are. A day generally of fog. 

 Curious ! a rising barometer with a southerly wind. 



