660 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. 



good as seal stew, the meat being coarser and .not 

 so sweet. We shall repeat for breakfast, and carry as 

 much as we can conveniently in the dingy. Piped 

 down at nine A. m. Called all hands at six p. m. Noth- 

 ing visible on account of fog. 



Breakfast should have been ready at Seven p. m., but 

 as both our supper and breakfast were cooked by burn- 

 ing blubber, much longer time was required, and it was 

 not until 7.45 that we in No. 1 sat down to our meal. 

 The saving in alcohol has been effected at the expense 

 of time. 



Under way at 8.30 p. m., and after advancing three 

 quarters of a mile over our course, W. and S. (magnetic) 

 we came to a broken and confused mass of water and 

 ice, much resembling our recent serious experience, 

 and here I halted the leading sleds. Two of our Mc- 

 Clintock sleds had received some hard usage in our 

 troublous trip over the " mess" on the 19th, and needed 

 relashing, and the dingy sled was crippled, one runner 

 being doubled under entirely. Ericksen's dog sled was 

 also hors de combat, and much work was thus in readi- 

 ness for Sweetman. This delayed us considerably, for 

 I could not attempt to cross the rotten and ugly mess 

 before us with crippled sleds, and I dared not leave any- 

 thing behind me. 



At eleven p. m. the wind had got to N. E. and com- 

 menced to blow. Rain fell also, and seemed likely to 

 fall for some time. The ice in the opening (one quarter 

 of a mile of lumps, hummocks, and floebergs) commenced 

 moving, and I began to fear it was now impossible to 

 cross. Altogether it was a dreary prospect. Every- 

 body was getting wet. We could not advance over a 

 living, moving, rotting pack, and the increasing wind 

 promised a gale. So I concluded to pitch the tents 

 where we were, as a shelter, and get dinner. 



