4G 
A I? G U M E N T. 
control. If with the aid of our present hunting-re¬ 
sources or by any providential accession to them I can 
keep the cases from rapid depression, next month ought 
to give us a bear, and in the mean time Hans may find 
a deer; and, with a good stock of fresh meat even for 
a few days, I can venture away from the vessel to draw 
supplies from the Esquimaux at Etali. I should have 
been there before this, if I could have been spared for 
forty-eight hours. We want nothing but meat. 
“2. The coming of the sun will open appliances of 
moral help to the sick, and give energy to the hygienic 
resorts which I am arranging at this moment. Our 
miserable little kennel, where eighteen are crowded 
into the space of ten, is thoroughly begrimed with 
lampblack from the inevitable smoke of our fuel. 
The weather has prevented our drying and airing the 
sleeping-gear. The floor is damp from the conducted 
warmth of the sea-water under us, melting the ice that 
has condensed everywhere below. Sunshine and dr\- 
weather will cure all this. I have window-sash ready 
to fix over the roof and southern side of the galley- 
house; and our useless daguerreotype plates, tacked 
over wooden screens, make admirable mirrors to trans¬ 
fer the sun-rays into the cabin. I have manufactured 
a full-draught pipe for our smoky stove. Chloride of 
sodium must do the rest. 
“3. While we live we will stick together: one fate 
shall belong to us all, be it what it may. 
“There is comfort in this review; and, please God in 
his beneficent providence to spare us for the work, 1 
