456 THE VOYAGE OF THE JE ANNETTE. 



complete we shall have quite a village on deck. There 

 is no doubt in my mind of the superiority of wooden 

 houses and porches to tent awnings and hatch covers, 

 and the benefit to be gained compensates doubly, I am 

 sure, for the inconvenience and lumbering up the deck 

 while making the passage from port to winter-quarters. 



If I could have known before sailing from San Fran- 

 cisco all that I have learned during the past year, I 

 think I could have brought about a more comfortable 

 cruise and have saved myself much mental annoyance, 



Septe?nber 21st, Tuesday. — A clay of magnificently 

 bright weather, but also of low temperature. Maxi- 

 mum, 155° ; minimum, 11°. Evidently we are going to 

 have a cold winter. September only two thirds gone 

 and a temperature nearly zero. Each clay our chances 

 of liberation seem to grow fainter and fainter. It re- 

 quires a disposition more sanguine than natural to 

 gather any comfort, or indulge any hopeful sentiment, 

 while regarding the icy waste in which we are located. 

 Alas, alas ! the North Pole and the Northwest Passage 

 are as far from our realization as they were the day the 

 ship left England ; and my pleasant hope, to add some- 

 thing to the history of Arctic discovery and explora- 

 tion, has been as ruthlessly shattered and as thoroughly 

 killed as my greatest enemy could desire. 



I frequently think that instead of recording the idle 

 w r ords that express our progress from day to clay I 

 might better keep these pages unwritten, leaving a 

 blank properly to represent the utter blank of this 

 Arctic expedition. 



Our pumping, however, goes on with commendable 

 regularity. We have proved by actual demonstration 

 that it requires an expenditure of an additional twenty- 

 five pounds of coal per diem if we use the steam-cut- 



