«Qn VOYAGE TO THE POLAR SEA. Aruii. 



Meteorological Abstract and the Game List are pub- 

 lished with those of the ' Alert ' in the Appendices. 



4 24th. — As the road near the base of the cliffs in 

 Eobeson Channel will be impracticable for sledges after 

 the thaw has set in, I have sent Lieutenant May, who 

 has now quite recovered from the effects of the frost- 

 bite he received in the autumn, with the dog-sledge to 

 Lincoln Bay to look for a road overland. Feilden 

 accompanies him, and Mr. Wootton has joined the 

 party as a volunteer worker. 



' 28th. — The temperature has risen to 5° and the 

 black bulb thermometer in the sun's rays registers 79° ; 

 consequently on the black surface of the ship's side, 

 and on the exposed faces of the snow-capped rocky 

 cliffs, long icicles have formed. On the southern side 

 of the floebergs the hitherto transparent ice has become 

 cloudy, and is covered with a beautiful coating of 

 efflorescence, consisting of elegant feathery crystals. 



4 Where the stratification of the snow-covered floe 

 has become exposed at a newly-formed crack, the 

 lower part of the snow is observed to have granulated, 

 the grains appearing inclined to collect together per- 

 pendicularly, and to increase in size by amalgamating, 

 leaving intermediate air-spaces. The snow near the 

 ship's side granulates in a similar manner, leaving a 

 space at the back or underneath, proving that the greater 

 portion of the work is performed by reflected heat. 

 To-day I noticed a marked evidence of this power : 

 a piece of wood was coated with a layer four inches in 

 thickness of clear transparent ice, which when in the 

 shade could not be removed from it without bringing 

 away pieces of the wood ; after being exposed to the 



