568 FARTHEST NORTH 



too long? It was the middle of July, and although we 

 should probably get on quickly enough, we might meet 

 with unexpected impediments, and it might take us a 

 month or more to reach the waters in which we could 

 hope to find a ship. That would bring us to the middle 

 or perhaps to the end of August, by which time the 

 sloops had begun to make for home. If we did not 

 come across one at once, when we got into September 

 it would be difficult enough to get hold of one, and then 

 we should perhaps be in for another winter of it, after 

 all. No, it was best to remain here, for there was every 

 chance that the ship would make its appearance. The 

 best time for navigating these waters is August and the 

 beginning of September, when there is generally the 

 least ice. We must trust to that, and let the time pass 

 as best it might. There were others than we who 

 waited impatiently for the ship. Four members of the 

 English expedition were also to go home in her, after 

 two years' absence. 



" Monday, July 20th. We begin to get more and 

 more impatient for the arrival of the vessel, but the ice 

 is still tolerably thick here. Jackson says that she should 

 have been here by the middle of June, and thinks that 

 there has several times been sufficiently open water for 

 her to have got through ; but I have my doubts about 

 that. Though only a little scattered ice is to be seen 

 here, even from a height of 500 feet, that does not mean 

 much ; there may be more ice farther south blocking 



