8 NATURAL HISTORY OF ARCTIC AMERICA. 



During our sojourn in Godhaven every attention was paid to our com- 

 fort by the higlily enlightened Danes resident there, and these three 

 short weeks were to us the most enjoyable of the whole cruise. We 

 pursued our scientific labors here as elsewhere when an anchorage was 

 made, but in this case had the misfortune of being on an old and well- 

 rorked field. 



On the evening of the 22d of August, the Florence left Godhaven and 

 sped on a southerly course, with a fair north wind ; this soon veered to 

 ESE. and blew a gale. For four days the schooner lay hove-to under 

 close-reefed storm-sail, while the hatches were battened down over the 

 poor natives in the hold. We were entirely at the mercy of the elements 

 and drifted with the sea. An impenetrable fog, with heavy rain, con- 

 tinued the whole time, and we were drifting among hundreds of ice- 

 bergs, but luckily did not come in contact with any. 



On the 27th land was sighted on our starboard quarter, and subse- 

 quent observations proved us to be in the mouth of Exeter Sound! We 

 had drifted completely across Davis Straits. 



On the 31st of August we again anchored at Mantilic, and most will- 

 ingly landed our passengers and all their goods, and enjoyed a few days 

 of rest, rest from the howling of wind and wave and from the far less 

 musical squall of the juvenile Eskimo and the fiendish howls of the dogs. 

 We could also enjoy the luxury of clean and free decks once more, the 

 first time since June. 



On the 12th of September willing hands headed the Florence for home, 

 very glad indeed to near the long-wished-for shores of the United 

 States, but little dreaming of the terrible passage we were about to en- 

 counter. 



We started with a fair free wind, which soon increased to a galej and 

 as the size of the schooner forbid scudding with more than a whole sail 

 breeze, we were obliged to heave-to for two days. From this time till 

 the 26th, when we made St. John's, Newfoundland, we were in a con- 

 tinual gale nearly the whole time. At the commencement of each storm, 

 and they followed one another in quick succession, we made a fair run 

 for a few hours, and then hove-to till the storm abated. 



On the llth of October, the Florence left St. John's, Newfoundland, 

 ior the United States. The passage was one of unusually severe weather : 

 one storm followed an other before the sea could go down, and to add 

 to our misery the schooner sprang a leak on the evening of the 19th, 

 while carrying a good deal of canvas, with stiff free wind and heavy 



