52 VOYAGE TO THE POLAR SEA. JPNE 



' Polaris ' in Hall Land was sufficient to justify this 

 expectation. 



' 2Qth. A south-westerly gale having raised the 

 temperature to 40, the thaw is making rapid progress 

 on both the ice and the land, and the icicles, which 

 only two days ago so gracefully draped each floeberg 

 and hid the original ice-block from view, have dis- 

 appeared as if by magic. A few ducks and geese are 

 flying about evidently wishing to settle in the neigh- 

 bourhood ; the sportsmen have decided not to molest 

 them for a few days, in the hope of their nesting near us. 



' The tidal-crack near Cape Eawson has opened 

 ten feet ; this is the first sign that we have seen of a 

 movement in the pack. 



' After the long silence on the lower-deck it is 

 pleasant to hear Aldrich playing the piano again in his 

 usual cheerful manner. 



4 29th. With the exception of a few deep snow- 

 drifts which still remain among the hummocks, the 

 snow has now all melted from above the one season's 

 ice, and the water has run off' through the tidal-cracks. 

 On shore the brows of the hills have become bare, but 

 the snow on the high flat lands and that on the aged 

 Polar floes remains apparently little affected. In the 

 " Gap of Dunloe " a stream of water fifty feet across 

 is running. At high- water it overflows the ice-floe 

 in the neighbourhood where the stream discharges into 

 the sea. 



' July \st. All the ravines are now running freely, 

 but they are still fordable. The pleasing noise of 

 running water, with the occasional call of a bird, 



