THE NOKTH-EAST PASSAGE. 47 



these changes was different for different winds ; 

 south - east and south winds usually brought high 

 water, two to three feet over the common water- 

 level. These observations were made by means of 

 the following apparatus. A metal wheel of the cir- 

 cumference of a metre was fixed on the top of the 

 boom. Over that wheel was laid a fine brass-wire 

 line, the thickness of a common log - line, the two 

 ends of which were taken down through the rud- 

 der-hole, one upon each side of the helm. The one 

 end was carried through a hole made in the ice 

 beside the rudder, and fastened to two bars of iron 

 which were sunk to the bottom ; the other was fixed 

 to a cannon-ball at such a height that it was sus- 

 pended in the centre of the rudder-hole. The 

 cannon - ball served to keep the line constantly on 

 the stretch. A board with foot and inch measure- 

 ments was placed between the boom and the deck, 

 and on the line an indicator which, according as 

 the vessel rose or fell, pointed out on the scale the 

 rising and falling of the water. 



As we wintered in lat. N. 67 7', we had not to 

 endure the tedium of constant darkness, which is 

 one of the trials of a winter spent in these regions 

 in higher latitudes. On the darkest day of the 

 year, the sun, with the aid of refraction, showed 

 half its disc above the horizon at mid-day. In the 

 saloon, from 10 A.M. until 2 P.M. we had as much 

 light as permitted us both to read and write. Out- 



