82 
STILL TRACKING. 
been considered as indigenous only to more southern 
latitudes. (19) 
“The thermometer gave twenty-five degrees last 
night, and the young ice formed without intermission: 
it is nearly two inches alongside the brig. I am loth 
to recognise these signs of the advancing cold. Our 
latitude to-day gives us 78° 37', taken from a station 
some three miles inside the indentation to the south. 
“August 24, Wednesday.—We have kept at it, track¬ 
ing along, grounding at low water, but working like 
horses when the tides allowed us to move. We are 
now almost at the bottom of this indentation. Opposite 
us, on the shore, is a remarkable terrace, which rises in 
a succession of steps until it is lost in the low rocks of 
the back country. The ice around us is broken, but 
heavy, and so compacted that we can barely penetrate 
it. It has snowed hard since 10 p. M. of yesterday, and 
the sludge fills up the interstices of the floes. Nothing 
but a strong south wind can give us further progress to 
the north. 
“August 25, Thursday.—The snow of yesterday has 
surrounded us with a pasty sludge; but the young ice 
continues to be our most formidable opponent. The 
mean temperatures of the 22d and 23d were 27° and 
30° Fahrenheit. I do not like being caught by wintei 
before attaining a higher northern latitude than this, 
but it appears almost inevitable. Favored as we have 
been by the mildness of the summer and by the abrading 
action of the tides, there are indications around us which 
point to an early winter. 
