THE WALRUS 167 



anchor cable to make sure of our fastenings, and 

 we afterwards sat down to await God's good will. 



To remain on the bridge was quite impossible. 

 The keen, searching wind almost cut one in two, 

 while there was great danger from the enormous 

 icicles which fell from the rigging, bombard- 

 ing us continually. The walruses having been 

 skinned in haste, everyone went below hatches 

 and we sat down to await events. 



Fortunately, one day bears but little resem- 

 blance to another in the Arctic regions. Changes 

 succeed each other with extraordinary rapidity ; 

 consequently, one's outlook on the surrounding 

 world undergoes modification. After two days 

 of storm and dense fog, which we passed in 

 our cabins, August 2oth dawned calm and 

 fairly clear. For the first time in six days we 

 caught a glimpse of the sun. On the evening 

 of the igth the wind commenced to fall little by 

 little and the fog lifted, and at seven o'clock in 

 the morning of the 20th we were able to move. 

 We set off in haste to examine the ice piled 

 up by the wind, and to discover whether the 

 entrance to Young Sound was barred or not. 

 While we were raising anchor, a group of belugas 

 or white whales surrounded the ship, but the 

 noise we made frightened them away before we 

 had time to lower a boat. 



