372 VOYAGE TO THE POLAR SEA. May 



uneven, and irregular sea of snow and ice. The tem- 

 perature has been about zero all day. Distance 

 marched four miles ; made good three-quarters of a 

 mile. 



< Qih.—A fine bright sunshiny day. Latitude 

 83° 16' 36" N. Our sick men are evidently not improv- 

 ing ; three have now to be carried on the sledges. We 

 appear to have arrived at a perfect barrier of hum- 

 mocks and portions of floes, all broken and squeezed 

 up, and covered with deep snow. It is possible we 

 may be able to penetrate these obstacles, eventually 

 reaching larger and more level floes, on which we may 

 be able to make more rapid progress. We ascended 

 one large hummock, from the summit of which the 

 prospect was anything but encouraging — nothing but 

 one vast illimitable sea of hummocks. The height of 

 this hummock was ascertained by means of a lead line, 

 and was found to be from its summit to the surface of 

 the snow at its base forty- three feet three inches. It 

 did not appear to be a floeberg, but a mass of hum- 

 mocks squeezed up and cemented together by several 

 layers of snow, making it resemble one huge solid 

 piece. Although the sun has been very warm all day, 

 the temperature has been down to minus 11°. Dis- 

 tance marched six miles ; made good one mile. 



4 "Jth. — We had scarcely advanced a couple of 

 hundred yards with one sledge, " standing pulls " the 

 whole distance, the prospect ahead being heavy hum- 

 mocks and deep snow-drifts, when it became painfully 

 evident that neither Pearce nor Shirley were able to 

 walk. Under these distressing circumstances there was 

 nothing to be done but to advance with one sledge, 



