iMARCH I J TO JUNE 22, iSgs 619 



and the forecasts made were apt to be sanguine enough. " If 

 the wind keeps long in this quarter we shall be at such and such 

 a spot on such and such a day. It is as clear as daylight we 

 shall be home some time in the autumn of 1896. Just see how 

 we have drifted up to now, and the farther we get west the faster 

 we shall go," and so forth. 



The cold which in the middle of March did not exceed — 40° 

 C, kept steadily at from —30" to —25° during April, but it de- 

 creased at a comparatively rapid rate in May, so that by about 

 the middle of the month the thermometer registered — 14°, and 

 in the latter part only —6'', On June 3d — so far the warmest 

 day — a large pond of water had formed close to the vessel, 

 although the highest temperature attained that day was —2°, 

 and the weather was overcast."" 



On June 5th the thermometer for the first time stood above 

 freezing-point — viz., at -t-o.2°. It then fell again for a few days, 

 going down to —6°; but on the iith it rose again to about 2" 

 above freezing-point, and so on. 



The amount of atmospheric moisture deposited during the 

 above-mentioned period was most insignificant ; only a very slight 

 snowfall now and then. However, Thursday, June 6th, was an 

 exception. The wind, which for several days had been blowing 

 from the south and west, veered round to the northwest during 

 the night, and at 8 a.m. next morning it changed to the north, 

 blowing a fresh breeze, with an exceptionally heavy snowfall. 



We saw the midnight sun for the first time during the night 

 of April 2d. 



One of the scientific tasks of the expedition was to investi- 

 gate the depth of the Polar Sea. Our lines, which were weak 

 and not very suitable for this purpose, were soon so worn by 



* On April i8th, when the doctor and I were out looking for a suitable 

 piece of ice for determining the specific gravity of the ice, we observed a 

 remarkable drop of water hanging under a projecting corner of a large 

 block of ice, reared up high by pressure. There it hung, in the shade, 

 quivering in the fresh breeze, although the thermometer registered about 

 -23° of frost. "That must be very salt," I said, and tasted it — " Phew!" 

 It was salt in very truth— rank salt, like the strongest brine. 



