THE RETURN TO COLD AND DARKNESS. 443 



six feet, dinner time came and we stopped. A careful 

 watch had been kept of the leak, and it was now found 

 that more water was coming in than formerly. I was 

 anxious naturally to get the ship afloat properly, but of 

 course I did not want to do so at the cost of materially 

 increasing the leak while there was no chance to navi- 

 gate her. Upon reflection, I concluded to leave well 

 enough (or bad enough) alone, and accordingly all saw- 

 ing and hauling was suspended. I have some fear that 

 the broken stem or sprung garboards, whichever is the 

 damage, may be firmly held in the ice, and that all our 

 hauling will only tend to open the rent still more widely 

 and leave us with a filling ship. 



From noon to eight p. m. 1,044 strokes were required 

 at the quarter deck pump to keep her free, or about 

 3,200 strokes per day. On the 11th August 1,295 

 strokes kept her free, and before that, and subsequent 

 to July 15, 240 strokes per diem kept her free. I have 

 no desire to go back to steam-pumping again, and God 

 forbid that it should again be a question of main boiler 

 and Sewell pump. With the emergency of a second 

 winter in the pack staring us in the face, we cannot be 

 too saving of our fifty-three tons of coal. An equal 

 weight in diamonds would not tempt me to exchange. 



The increased comfort of being on an even keel is 

 very great. No longer is moving about awkward and 

 inconvenient ; our plates and cups are not now tempt- 

 ing their contents to slide away over the table-cloth, 

 and we do not have to mount high in the air to get on 

 board ship from the ice. The ship looks now some- 

 thing like a ship. Standing upright, with her nose well 

 up, she looks like a horse eager for a start. But, poor 

 lady ! she has no chance to clo so yet. All the steam- 

 power of all the engines and boilers, and all the 



