110 THE CxERMAN AROTrC EXPEDITION. 



dreary ice-field. Now and again the northern Hghts shot 

 upwards in ever-changing colours. At the same time it 

 was fi^eezing sharply, the thermometer marking in the 

 night — 13° F. One half of the men stayed by the pumps ; 

 the others were busily engaged until midnight, in bringing 

 the most necessary articles from the vessel on to the floe. 

 " As to sleep," writes Dr. Buchholz in his day-book, " that 

 was not to be thought of, as the idea of our dreadful 

 position was whirling through my head in the wildest 

 manner. What would become of us when winter really 

 set in, if it already announced its approach with such 

 bitter cold ? In vain did I try to think of any means of 

 preservation. An attempt to reach the land could not be 

 entertained for a moment. It might be possible to make 

 our way through great dangers over the floes and fields 

 to the coast ; but at the uttermost we could only provide 

 ourselves with nourishment for a few days. Esquimaux 

 sei.tlements, according to Scoresby's experience, were not 

 to be expected; so that the idea of dying of hunger 

 seemed very near us. There remained, then, nothing for 

 it, but to try and hold out in the coal-hut on the south- 

 ward-drifting field. If it held together, we might hope 

 to reach a South Greenland Esquimaux settlement in the 

 spring, or (which was very unlikely) get across the icy 

 belt to Iceland." 



One great evil with the pumps was, that the water 

 streaming on the deck could not, owing to the uneven 

 position of the vessel, run off" through the scuppers, which 

 were fiUed up with ice ; and thus it froze between the 

 provision-chests. Soon the whole of the after-deck was 

 full of ice ; the water which was pumped up stood round 

 the pumps, and the men who worked them had to stand 



