270 
THE PLANTS. 
story: I cite these in passing as among the indications 
of our high northern latitude. 
“June 21, Wednesday.—A snow, moist and flaky, 
melting upon our decks, and cleaning up the dingy sur¬ 
face of the great ice-plain with a new garment. We 
are at the summer solstice, the day of greatest solar 
light! Would that the traditionally-verified hut me¬ 
teorologically-disproved equinoctial storm could break 
upon us, to destroy the tenacious floes! 
* 
“June 22, Thursday.—The ice changes slowly, but 
the progress of vegetation is excessively rapid. The 
growth on the rocky group near our brig is surprising. 
“June 23, Friday.—The eiders have come back: a 
pair were seen in the morning, soon followed by four 
ducks and drakes. The poor things seemed to be seek¬ 
ing breeding-grounds, but the ice must have scared 
them. They were flying southward. 
“June 25, Sunday.—Walked on shore and watched 
the changes: andromeda in flower, poppy and ranun¬ 
culus the same: saw two snipe and some tem. 
“ Mr. Ohlsen returned from a walk with Mr. Peter¬ 
sen. They saw reindeer, and brought back a noble 
specimen of the king duck. It was a solitary male, 
resplendent with the orange, black, and green of his 
head and neck. 
“Stephenson is better; and I think that a marked 
improvement, although a slow one, shows itself in all 
of us. I work the men lightly, and allow plenty of 
basking in the sun. In the afternoon we walk on 
shore, to eat such succulent plants as we can find amid 
