TO THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 187 
the average temperature throughout the whole 
day is 20° below zero. 
Thursday, 20th.— ‘There has been a consider- 
able fall of snow to-day ; and it descended in 
flakes, different from any that we have seen 
since last summer ; for what fell during the winter, 
used always to be something like fine powder. 
The weather, since this fall of snow, has become 
much milder than it was before; this afternoon 
the thermometer in the shade rose as high as 4° 
above zero, the wind at the time being from the 
southward and eastward, which we always find to 
be the warmest wind.* 
Wednesday, 26th. — The weather continues to 
improve ; the snow that was on the roofing of the 
ships all melted off to-day ; and on shore, where 
the black turf appears through that covering, the 
edge of it has dissolved a little; and the plants 
that are exposed in these places, are already 
beginning to bud. ‘The ground, however, is more 
generally clothed with snow, than it has been 
since the beginning of the winter; for that which 
fell lately has been, as I have already mentioned, 
moister than heretofore, so that it has not blown 
off as it used to do. ‘The wolf has been frequently 
seen of late, and the dog I have before-men- 
tioned continues to pay her his visits: he gene- 
rally, indeed, remains with her for two or three days 
* It is only within this month past, however, that we have 
found that the S.E. wind has been warmer than any other; 
for it may be remembered that I remarked during the winter 
that we found no difference in point of warmth from whatever 
direction the wind was. 
