THE WINTER NIGHT 413 



backward? Why not carelessly let the days glide by 

 like a peacefully flowing river? every now and then there 

 will come a rapid that will quicken the lazy flow. Ah ! 

 what a wondrous contrivance is life — one eternal hurry- 

 ing forward, ever forward — to what end ? And then 

 comes death and cuts all short before the oroal is reached. 



" I went a long snow-shoe tour to-day. A little way 

 to the north there were a good many newly formed lanes 

 and pressure-ridges which were hard to cross, but patience 

 overcomes everything, and I soon reached a level plain 

 where it was delightful going. It was, however, rather 

 cold, about 54° Fahr. below zero ( — 48^ C.) and 16 feet of 

 wind from N.N.E., but I did not feel it much. It is 

 wholesome and enjoyable to be out in such weather. I 

 wore only ordinary clothes, such as I might wear at home, 

 with a sealskin jacket and linen outside breeches, and a 

 half-mask to protect the forehead, nose, and cheeks. 



"There has been a good deal of ice -pressure in 

 different directions to-day. Oddly enough, a meridian 

 altitude of the sun gave 79' 45'. We have therefore 

 drifted only 8' southward during the four days since 

 March 4th. This slow drift is remarkable in spite of 

 the high winds. If there should be land to the north ? 

 I begin more and more to speculate on this possibility. 

 Land to the north would explain at once our not pro- 

 gressing northward, and the slowness of our southward 

 drift. But it may also possibly arise from the fact of the 

 ice being so closely packed together, and frozen so thick 



