178 
CORRESPONDENCE. 
“ 6th. No sun. to-day, except for a very short time in the afternoon; 
sky overcast and cloudy. There has been a slight fall of snow in the 
early part of the morning. The dredge and deep-sea line, which had 
been down all night to ascertain drift, was hauled up, and contents pro¬ 
cured ; it was again lowered in the afternoon. Divine service was held 
at 10.30 a. m. : all present. After dinner some of the men went out seal¬ 
shooting, and four were brought in; two black whales were seen. Since 
6 o’clock the sky was cleared a little, and the sun set at 8.30., the moon 
occasionally visible; about ten bergs are to be seen from the mast-head; 
some are grounded on this bank. Nothing else of interest during the 
day. Early yesterday morning it was reported we had an addition of 
young dogs to our ‘troupe,’ four juveniles being apparent; they have 
all been eaten since by the other dogs. 
“ 7th. Great hopes were raised in our breasts to-dajr by the ap¬ 
pearance of several large pools of water close ahead of us, and operations 
were commenced with great vigour ; the young ice around the ship was 
rather thick, so steam was got up, and it was broken up by paddling 
about. All hands were busily employed in breaking up and blowing up 
the ice close to us ; all the time it was snowing rather briskly. This 
was continued until 9 o’clock, when we were separated from the pools 
by only about twenty yards of ice. We might get through this in the 
morning, but the winds are against us. The men worked with a will 
(as they always do), and great quantities of ice were displaced ; it was 
rather unpleasant work out in the snow, but the prospect of getting away 
cheered us, and lent vigour to our arms. The wind is increasing. 
“ 8th. Alas for our hopes! the open pools of last night are scarcely 
to be seen this morning, and we are surrounded by ice again, with no 
prospect of delivery at present. Our work had been useless, and we are 
still fast, but we must succumb to circumstances. The dredge yesterday 
and to-day yielded some things of interest; no birds or seals were seen, 
as there was a mist all day, and some snow. 
“ 19th. Everything has now a monotonous aspect; the same daily 
routine, breakfast, ozonometer, walk, read; dinner, walk, read, siesta; 
tea, music, walk, read, ozone, read, write, hammock. Still fast to the 
floe, with no hope of escape ; we have been making winter preparations, 
fitting the ship, fixing sails, rigging, and masts properly; building a 
couple of snow-houses, putting up a marine barometer; found, at low 
temperatures, the hygrometer was little, if anyway, affected. Took tem¬ 
perature of different places in the ship. We have been drifting a good 
deal. To-day the men have been restoring the main hold ; dredge used 
on several occasions ; two or three good Crinoidese were taken. A faint 
Aurora last night. Soundings taken at 79 fathoms, stony. 
“ October 6th. This day has been cold as yesterday, with little wind, 
the thermometer now being 3° E., with beautiful stars and moonlight; 
no clouds or aurora; much ozone this morning and evening. I was 
busy to-day copying out the barometer results for August, tabulating the 
daily and hourly means; to-morrow I intend to do September. The 
men were employed on board arranging ropes, &c.; and afterwards all 
the boats were hoisted out, and are now on the floe; the funnel of engine 
