444 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. 



strength of all the ships in the world, if combined in 

 her, would not be able to get her to the open sea just 

 now. 



At eight p. m. the water-level stood at 8 feet 101 

 inches on the stem, and 13 feet 41 inches on the rudder- 

 post, showing a settling forward, of 6! inches, and a 

 coming up aft of li inches, due probably to the effect 

 of the hauling. 



September Id, Thursday. — A cheerless and gloomy 

 day. The usual fog in the forenoon, and in the after- 

 noon until midnight an almost steady fall of very light 

 snow. In one day we seem to have jumped into win- 

 ter. All our lakes and rivulets are covered with ice 

 an inch in thickness, and that in turn being hidden by 

 snow, the general view is as cold and cheerless as pos- 

 sible. While we had such mild temperatures, and the 

 ice was in a soft and loose condition, how anxiously we 

 hoped for a gale of wind to break upon us to give 

 everything a good shaking up and, perhaps, release us 

 from our fetters. But now that everything is begin- 

 ning to freeze fast again our chances of liberation seem 

 infinitesimally small. However, never say die ! some- 

 thing may be done in the month of September after 

 all. Everything is for the best. 



A calculation of the work done by our quarter deck 

 bilge - pump, running 3,200 strokes per diem, gives 

 2,741.76 gallons of water (or, 114.24 per hour) as the 

 extent of the leak at present. 



Mr. Collins on returning from the lead, about two 

 miles ahead of the ship, reports that it is about one 

 hundred yards in width. 



For a clay or two there have been indications of land 

 to the northeast, clouds hang steadily there as over 

 mountain peaks, and such birds as we have noticed 



