1876 MARKHAM'S RETURN JOURNEY. 381 



* Our small modicum of limejuice is nearly all 

 expended, although it has been most carefully hus- 

 banded, and only issued to the sick every other day. 



' The travelling to-day has been very heavy, the 

 road being rough and the snow deep. On account of 

 the thick weather we had great difficulty in adhering 

 to the old track, and on several occasions the sledges 

 had to be halted until the trail was picked up on the 

 opposite side of the floe amongst the hummocks. 



' Ominous signs, predicting a movement of the ice, 

 were visible. A crack in some young ice had per- 

 ceptibly opened since we passed over it three weeks 

 ago, and layers or flakes of ice from one to three 

 inches in thickness were squeezed up along the crack. 

 Not 200 yards from this rent a large portion of a 

 hummock situated at the extreme end of a floe had 

 lost its equilibrium and toppled over ; from the marks 

 left in the snow this must have occurred quite recently. 

 These movements may be attributed to a slight tidal 

 motion, but it is a warning for us to get off the pack 

 as quickly as possible. Distance made good one mile 

 and-a-half. 



< l$th. — A thick overcast day, with snow falling 

 heavily. Travelling very rough, jolting the invalids 

 considerably. Passed two more cracks in the ice that 

 have opened a great deal since they were crossed on 

 our outward journey. One of these was the opening 

 between two large floes, conclusive evidence that one 

 or other, or both, had been in motion. At 10 p.m. 

 the fog lifted, and the sun shone clear and bright, but 

 shortly after midnight a dense fog rolled down from 

 the northward, in which we were completely enveloped 



