266 An Addition to our Company. 



able to push through iu about the latitude of Home 

 Bay or Exeter Souud. 



We are now nearly in the latitude of Cape Kater 

 of the whalers (Cape Raper of the chart), but 

 nearly thirty miles from land. We see several of 

 the other ships, but it has come on so thick that 

 we must postpone communication with them until 

 morning. It is now midnight and nearly dark. 



Wednesday, August 20th. — The morning broke 

 fine and clear, and found us surrounded by nearly 

 all the whaling fleet, two or three of which were 

 chasing fish. We have now taken on board from 

 the " Ravenscraig " all the rest of the crew of the 

 " Polaris/' excepting three that the "Intrepid" has 

 on board. With the exception of Morton, all the 

 men we received on board to-day are grey-headed, 

 and certainly not the sort that one would pick out 

 to go to the North Pole ; — I should say the 

 average age of the four would be over fifty years. 

 We now number thirteen in the cabin ; seven sit 

 down at the first table, and the others when they 

 have finished. 



We are threading our way through miles of 

 loose pack-ice towards "the southward. It is a 

 dead calm, and we are compelled to have recourse 

 to our unfailing kettle. I hope the coals will last 

 out. This evening at 7.30 I witnessed for the 

 first time a most perfect and brilliant parhelion, the 

 angle between the true and mock suns being 



