\ 
TIIK UESCUK IN HER lOK-DOCK. 
CHAPTER XXXVI. 
Our brig was still resting on her cradle, and her 
consort on the floe a short distance off, when the first 
month of spring came to greet us. We had passed 
the latitude of 72°. 
To prepare for our closing struggle with the ice- 
fields, or at least divide its hazards, it was determined 
to refit the Rescue. To get at her hull, a pit was 
sunk in the ice around her, large enough for four men 
to work in at a time, and eight feet deep, so as to ex- 
pose her stern, and leave only eighteen inches of the 
keel imbedded. This novel dry-dock answered per- 
fectly. The hull was inspected, and the work of re- 
pair was pressed so assiduously, that in three days the 
stern-post was in its place, and the new bow^sprit ready 
for shipping. We had now the chances of two ships 
again in case of disaster. 
Since the middle of February the felt housing of our 
vessel had shoAvn a disposition to throw off its snowy 
crust. There was an apparent recession, or, rather, 
want of adhesion about it, that spoke of change. But 
it was not till the 7th of March that we witnessed an 
