152 FARTHEST NORTH 



them proper!)', nor would it be a very congenial task in 

 this cold. So we ""o on when the ice is uneven, and 

 every hour and a half, at least, have to stop and disen- 

 tangle the traces. 



"We started yesterday about half -past eight in the 

 morning, and stopped about five in the afternoon. After 

 dinner the northeasterly wind, which we have had the 

 whole time, suddenly became stronger, and the sky over- 

 cast. We welcomed it \\ith joy, for we saw in it the sign 

 of a probable change of weather and an end to this per- 

 l)etual cold and brightness. I do not think we deceived 

 ourselves either. Yesterda)- evening the temperature 

 had risen to -29.2' Fahr. ( — 34 C), and we had the best 

 night in the bag we have had for a long time. Just 

 now, as I am getting the breakfast ready, I see that it 

 is clear again, and the sun is shining through the 

 tent wall. 



" The ice we are now travelling over seems, on the 

 whole, to be old ; but sometimes we come across tracts, 

 of considerable width, of uneven new ice, which must 

 have been pressed uj) a considerable time. 1 cannot 

 account for it in any other way than by supposing 

 it to be ice from great open i^ools which must have 

 formed here at one time. We have traversed pools of 

 this description, with level ice on them, several times." 

 That day I took a meridian observation, which, however, 

 did not make us farther north than 85'^ 30'. I could not 

 understand this; thought that we must be in latitude 



