NINE MONTHS IN THE ARCTIC. 157 



attempt. "We were sensible that from the sever- 

 ity of the cold, we must travel all the time, night 

 and day ; there could be no rest or respite for us, 

 with safety, out of doors. If we should stop for 

 any length of time, or sit down, death would be 

 inevitable. 



It was intensely cold when we left — such an air 

 as is felt only in the arctic. The northern lights 

 shone very brightly that night ; wind quite high ; 

 occasionally the snow flying in dense masses 

 around us ; and besides, slumping into the snow 

 from six inches to two feet at almost every step. 



Thus we traveled, or rather, as it seemed to 

 us, crawled along during that night, keeping our 

 course by the sea shore as much as we could. 

 We found no well-beaten road, or path, but we 

 had to make one for ourselves ; no plain before 

 us, but a rugged and broken surface, both upon 

 the frozen ocean and upon the land ; immense 

 piles of snow, wrought into a great variety of 

 forms by the circling winds ; indeed the whole 

 scene before us was one of the wildest, grandest, 

 and most terrific, that winter could present to 

 mortal eyes, and such as can be seen only where 

 Winter asserts his undisputed supremacy. 



And what a night was that for human beings 

 to be out and exposed, with no covering above 

 us but the bright stars, and the brighter corusca- 



