THE WINTER NIGHT 385 



pressure just now, with the moon in its last quarter and 

 neap tide. This does not agree with our previous expe- 

 riences ; no more does the fact that the pressure the day 

 before yesterday was from 12 a.m. to about 2 p.m., and 

 then again at 2 a.m., and now we have had it from 7.30 

 to 10.30 P.M. Can land have something to do with it 

 here, after all .f* The temperature to-day is 42" Fahr. 

 below zero ( — 41.4'' C), but there is no wind, and we 

 have not had such pleasant weather for walking for a 

 long time ; it feels almost mild here when the air is still. 



" No, that was not the end of the pressure. When I 

 was on deck at a quarter to twelve roarino- and tremblino- 

 began again in the ice forward on the port quarter; then 

 suddenly came one loud boom after another, soundino- 

 out in the distance, and the ship gave a start ; there was 

 again a little pressure, and after that quietness. Faint 

 aurora borealis. 



" Sunday, January 28th. Strange to say, there has 



been no pressure since 12 o'clock last night; the ice 



seems perfectly quiet. The pressure-ridge astern showed 



what violent packing yesterday's was ; in one place its 



height was 18 or 19 feet above the surface of the water; 



floe-ice 8 feet thick was broken, pressed up in square 



blocks, and crushed to pieces. At one point a huge 



monolith of such floe-ice rose high into the air. Beyond 



this pressure-wall there was no great disturbance to be 



detected. There had been a little packing here and 



there, and the floe to port had four or five large cracks 

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