devil's thumb. 
CHAPTER XII. 
^^July 10. For the past twenty-four hours helplessly 
fast, unahle to move in any direction more than twen- 
ty yards. The wind, which had been from the north- 
east, hauled yesterday afternoon to the westward, 
since when, blowing at times quite freshly, it has ac- 
quired more and more southing, till it has got round 
to southwest by west. From the commencement of 
this change to this moment, the pack has been stead- 
ily closing, becoming more and more impenetrable. 
" Now I begin to realize some of the scenes de- 
scribed in polar travel. Go up to the foretop, a height 
of eighty-five feet, and the entire horizon is snow-cov- 
ered ice. Here and there a very distant berg breaks 
the uniformity, but the hummocks and the water-pools 
are softened down by the distance into one plane sur- 
