264 
CHANGE IN THE FLOE. 
floe-ice. Hitherto I have been dependent upon the 
accounts of my messmates, and believed that the work 
of thaw was going on with extreme rapidity. They 
are mistaken: we have a late season. The ice-foot 
has not materially changed either in breadth or level, 
and its base has been hardly affected at all, except by 
the overflow of the tides. The floe, though under¬ 
going the ordinary molecular changes which accom¬ 
pany elevation of temperature, shows less surface- 
change than the Lancaster Sound ices in early May. 
All this, but especially the condition of the ice-foot, 
warns me to prepare for the contingency of not escap¬ 
ing. It is a momentous warning. We have no coal 
for a second winter here; our stock of fresh provisions 
is utterly exhausted; and our sick need change, as 
essential to their recovery. 
“ The willows are tolerably forward on Butler Island. 
Poor, stunted crawlers, they show their expanded leaf¬ 
lets against the gray rocks. Among these was the 
Bear berry, (A. uva ursi:) knowing its reputation -with 
the Esquimaux to the south as a remedy for scurvy, I 
gleaned leaves enough for a few scanty mouthfuls. 
The lichens are very conspicuous; but the mosses and 
grasses and heaths have not yet made their appearance 
in the little valley between the rocks.” 
