THE RETURN TO COLD AND DARKNESS. 485 



might have melted. Minus 33°. (This is intended for 

 keen irony, but like Danenhower's description of his 

 foot warmer, " a hot brick, in the shape of a flat-iron, 

 made of brass," it may sound somewhat vague and 

 peculiar.) The sun having left us yesterday, we had 

 the pleasure of judging where he was by a bright red 

 tint in the sky, above the horizon. Just to think that 

 there were people at that moment in our longitude, 

 with the sun in their zenith, who were not happy and 

 no doubt complaining bitterly of the heat. They have 

 no more use for heat than we have for cold. 



Inspection showed a perfectly dry and fairly well 

 ventilated berth deck. I say fairly well if compared 

 with perfect ventilation, but remarkably w r ell if com- 

 pared with Arctic ships in general. Divine service fol- 

 lowed at 1.15 p. M. 



During the forenoon the ice was found to be cracked 

 between the ship and the thermometer box, and I sup- 

 pose the time is not far distant when we shall see the 

 ice floating away from us again as it did a year ago. 

 During the clay and evening grinding of ice could be 

 heard to the southward, and generally the snapping 

 and crackling of the surface crust. 



November 9th, Tuesday. — Observations to-night 

 show a drift since the 3d of nine and one quarter miles 

 to S. 64° E. 



To our unmitigated astonishment the sun came above 

 the horizon at noon, some portion of his disc being vis- 

 ible from eleven a. m. to one P. m. Of course this is 

 due to extraordinary refraction, for in our latitude the 

 sun to-day at noon w r as 52' below the horizon. If w 7 e 

 were superstitious we might attach some significance to 

 this strange occurrence. 



November 10th, Wednesday. — The extraordinary re- 



