A HARD STRUGGLE 233 



days, the direction being about southwest — every little 

 counts. 



" In front of us on the horizon we have a water-sky, or 

 at any rate a reflection which is so sharply defined and 

 remains so immovable that it must either be over open 

 water or dark land ; our course just bears on it. It is a 

 good way off, and the water it is over can hardly be of 

 small extent ; I cannot help thinking that it must be 

 under land. May it be so ! But between us, to judge by 

 the sky, there seems to be plenty of lanes. 



" The ice is still the same nowadays, barely of the 

 previous winter's formation, where it is impossible to find 

 any suitable for cooking. It seems to me that it is here, 

 if possible, thinner than ever, with a thickness of from 2 

 to 3 feet. The reason of this I am still at a loss to ex- 

 plain. 



"Friday, May 31st. It is wonderful; the last day of 

 May -this month gone too without our reaching land, 

 without even seeing it. June cannot surely pass in the 

 same manner — it is impossible that we can have far to 

 go now. I think everything seems to indicate this. 

 The ice becomes thinner and thinner, we see more and 

 more life around us, and in front is the same reflection of 

 water or land, whichever it may be. Yesterday I saw 

 two ringed seals {P/ioca fa'tida) in two small lanes; a 

 bird, probably a fulmar, flew over a lane here yesterday 

 evening, and at midday yesterday we came on the fresh 

 tracks of a bear and two small cubs, which had followed 



