8 VOYAGE TO THE POLAR SEA. Junk 



melt with great rapidity. As the ever-decaying pack 

 drifts to the northward, the breadth of the stream 

 narrows considerably until at a distance of 180 miles 

 to the northward of Cape Desolation, there is little 

 or none of the East Greenland drift ice left unmelted. 



Next day the wind prevented our using steam except 

 at a large expenditure of coal, so I beat to the north- 

 ward close along the edge of the ice-stream in order 

 to take advantage of the northerly running current. 

 We experienced a current of about sixteen miles a day 

 in our favour, but I think now that had I stood out 

 farther from the land into the warmer water we should 

 have found a stronger current. A few small icebergs 

 were seen occasionally. 



During the morning the ' Valorous ' was sighted. 

 She informed us by signal that ' all was well,' and, 

 much to the relief of many, that the sheep had not 

 suffered by their rough voyage across the Atlantic. 

 In the afternoon the wind dying away, we steamed to 

 the northward close along the edge of the ice. During 

 the night we experienced a thick fog. 



On the morning of the 29th, when passing at about 

 forty miles distant from Cape Desolation, off which the 

 ice naturally accumulates, I found that we had run 

 deeper into the ice-stream than I had intended, and was 

 forced to haul out from five to ten miles farther away 

 from the land. The temperature of the sea surface 

 ranged from 32° amongst the ice to 37° in the more 

 open spaces, the temperature of the air being also much 

 affected by the neighbourhood of the pack, and varying 

 from 37° to 34°. A few seals and a single walrus 

 were observed asleep on the ice. 



