145 
-THE ICE-BLINK.” 
to keep up a cheery tone among the men. Poor Hans 
has been sorely homesick. Three days ago he bundled 
up his clothes and took his rifle to bid us all good-bye. 
It turns out that besides his mother there is another 
one of the softer sex at Fiskernaes that the boy’s heart 
is dreaming of. He looked as wretched as any lover 
of a milder clime. I hope I have treated his nostalgia 
successfully, by giving him first a dose of salts, and, 
secondly, promotion. He has now all the dignity of 
henchman. He harnesses my dogs, builds my traps, 
and walks with me on my ice-tramps; and, except 
hunting, is excused from all other duty. He is really 
attached to me, and as happy as a fat man ought 
to be. 
“November 21, Monday.—We have schemes innu¬ 
merable to cheat the monotonous solitude of our winter. 
We are getting up a fancy ball; and to-day the first 
number of our Arctic newspaper, ‘ The Ice-Blink,’ came 
out, with the motto, ‘In tenebris servare fidem.’ The 
articles are by authors of every nautical grade: some 
of the best from the forecastle. I transfer a few of 
them to my Appendix; but the following sketch is a 
fac-simile of the vignette of our little paper. 
“November 22, Tuesday.—I offered a prize to-day of 
a Guernsey shirt to the man who held out longest in a 
‘fox-chase’ round the decks. The rule of the sport 
was, that ‘Fox’ was to run a given circuit between 
galley and capstan, all hands following on his track; 
every four minutes a halt to be called to blow, and the 
fox making the longest run to take the prize; each of 
Vol. I.— 10 
