478 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. 



way of the Arctic navigator, drifting in the pack, is dif- 

 ficult to determine in winter. Divine service followed 

 inspection. The berth deck was as dry as a bone fore 

 and aft, and it would seem that we have solved the 

 problem, " how to overcome dampness in the living 

 quarters of an Arctic ship." 



October 2ftth, Tuesday. — Our fox is at last caught, 

 and, poor thing, in two traps at once. Mr. Dunbar, on 

 going out to them this morning, found the victim moan- 

 ing and crying, with one fore leg held in one- trap and 

 one hind leg in the other. Dispatching him he brought 

 him in, a fine white fox, plump as a partridge, but not 

 choice enough for eating. Resembling as it did an 

 overgrown cat, the game seemed too cruelly obtained, 

 and Dunbar said he felt ashamed of himself for the 

 capture, though admitting that he had promptly reset 

 the traps ! The skin will come in handy for trimmings. 



October 27th, Wednesday. — As the winter grows on 

 us, and our daylight fades away to the time when the 

 sun will leave us altogether, our anxieties recommence. 

 All the time of our perpetual day, when we hoped and 

 prayed for a breaking up of the ice to occur, so that we 

 might again attempt to redeem ourselves by some ef- 

 fort, not a sound, not a motion was to be noticed. But 

 now, when a breaking up of the ice can serve no other 

 purpose but disaster, so far as our human judgment can 

 foretell, we seem to be promised enough of it. This 

 morning at daylight a crack or lane six feet in width 

 was discovered on our port beam, about five hundred 

 yards distant. It extended to and joined with what 

 was an open lane an eighth of a mile astern of the 

 ship. (This last-named lane has remained closed or 

 frozen over for nearly three months until a few clays 

 ago, when numerous cracks appeared in it, extending 



