1875 WET STATE OF THE FLOE. 163 



man -sledge is lost, and by no means could we get our 

 dogs to haul when we did. This makes the labour 

 much greater, and it is not agreeable to find, on 

 looking round after a hard struggle in the belt to get 

 the sledge ahead, that some of the dogs are not 

 hauling, and the others helping them ; and yet ordi- 

 narily they do a very great deal of work, and if much 

 may be said against them a great deal may be said for 

 them.' 



At Floeberg Beach on the 6th. The ice was 

 eight inches in thickness, above it was water one inch 

 in depth, five inches of sodden snow, and on top of all 

 eight inches of dry snow. Owing to this accumulation 

 of snow on the young ice, it suddenly broke away 

 from the ship's side, and sank about six inches, allow- 

 ing the water to flow over it to that depth, and render- 

 ing the surface extremely sloppy ; the water remaining 

 unfrozen notwithstanding the temperature was at 14°. 



On the 7 th we experienced a strong breeze from the 

 westward, with snow falling and drifting to such an 

 extent as to hide everything from view that was more 

 than a ship's length distant. I was very thankful that 

 Aldrich and the dogs were safe on board, for the light 

 snow had collected in drifts as high as our hips. On 

 the land it must have been deeper, but our duties 

 did not call anyone in that direction. The upper deck 

 was so deeply buried that it became questionable 

 whether to house it over with the winter awning, but 

 closing it in too early meant shutting out the daylight 

 from below — a very serious loss. 



During the evening, the overcast weather clearing 



M 2 



