508 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. 



nine miles an hour, but rapidly moderates, and by mid- 

 night we have a stark calm. 



January 27th, Thursday, — Light southerly airs, po- 

 sition obtained showing a drift of thirteen and one 

 fourth miles N. 20° W. since 22d. Latitude 74° 20' 56" 

 N., longitude 173° 10' E., — the highest latitude we 

 have obtained in the nineteen months' cruising ! Slow 

 music ! 



January 31st, Monday. — Ice found by actual meas- 

 urement to be five feet four inches thick by direct 

 freezing since August 31st, and a gain of ten inches in 

 the past month. As all our measurements are made by 

 boring in a protected place, no increase of thickness is 

 due to snow-drift freezing on the surface. We get the 

 actual growth, and naturally all increase is on the un- 

 der side. 



It is worthy of note, that the upper half is much the 

 harder. It is with great difficulty that the auger is got 

 down, the ice offering as great resistance as plate-glass 

 or rock, and the pieces broken out by the auger threads 

 being as firm as flint. Through the lower half the bor- 

 ing is much easier, the ice seeming to be softer and 

 more yielding. 



February 1st, Tuesday. — The first of the month 

 brings the surgeon's examination if it brings nothing 

 else. Dr. Ambler concluded the examination, and 

 handed in his report. The condition of thirty-one of us 

 is pronounced good, the remaining two (Danenhower 

 and the cook) being in fair condition. The cook has 

 nothing the matter with him, but is simply thin. 



Taking advantage of a break in the generally pre- 

 vailing cloudiness, Chipp gets a set of sights to-day by 

 which our position is determined to be in 74° 39' N., and 

 172° 25' E., a drift since the 27th January of thirty-two 



