658 THE VOYAGE OF THE JE ANNETTE. 



supper. The sky remained nearly cloudless, and the 

 sun shone brightly. As everybody was complaining of 

 the heat, I exposed a thermometer to the sun, getting 

 35°. At 8.40 A. m. turned to and set to work, and from 

 this time to three p. m. we had the hardest time we 

 have had yet. Such a mess of loose cakes, rotten ice, 

 water holes, and pack ice I have never seen. We 

 tried everything, bridging, road-making, and finally, 

 by means of rope, to join the moving mass together. 

 Everything succeeded for a few moments, and then 

 came to nothing; and it was only by rushes and jumps 

 and risks that we got everything on solid ice and 

 camped, — four and a quarter miles good. Towards 

 noon clouds rose rapidly from the southward, and cov- 

 ered the sky so as to prevent my getting a latitude, 

 which I very much desired. Called all hands at eleven 

 p. m., and at midnight sat down to breakfast. Sound- 

 ings in twenty- two and one half fathoms. 



July 20th, Wednesday. — Hard as our work was last 

 night I congratulate myself that it was not left till this 

 morning, for we have a thick fog, which would have 

 made our task an impossibility. Temperature 27°, due 

 to the evaporation, for the pools on the ice show not 

 the slightest sign of freezing. Found Foxy dead in 

 the water. He probably had a fit and fell in. 



Got under way at 1.30 A. m., and though our work was 

 not so difficult as yesterday, it was still sufficiently try- 

 ing, and by the time we had succeeded in getting all our 

 things across the one half mile intervening between the 

 hard ice on which we camped and the long level plain 

 beyond, it was six a. m. and I decided to go no further. 

 Tents were accordingly pitched and preparations made 

 for supper. While loading the first detachment of sleds 

 on a cake of ice for ferrying, we were surprised by see- 



