ALONE IN THE ARCTIC SEA. 
209 
Ten minutes more, and we were the only denizens 
of that misty sea. I confess I felt excessively sorry 
to have lost the society of such joyous companions; 
they had received us always with such merry good 
nature: the Prince had shown himself so gracious 
and considerate, and he was surrounded by a staff 
of such clever, well-informed persons, that it was 
with the deepest regret I watched the fog close 
round the magnificent corvette, and bury her—and 
all whom she contained—within its bosom. Our own 
situation, too, was not altogether without causing me 
a little anxiety. We had not seen the sun for two 
days; it was very thick, with a heavy sea, and dodging 
about as we had been among the ice, at the heels of 
the steamer, our dead reckoning was not very much 
to be depended upon. The best plan I thought would 
be to stretch away at once clear of the ice, then run 
up into the latitude of Jan Mayen, and—as soon as 
we should have reached the parallel of its northern 
extremity—bear down on the land. If there was any 
access at all to the island, it was very evident it would 
be on its northern or eastern side; and now that we were 
alone, to keep on knocking up through a hundred miles 
P 
