FOG GATHERING. u 
117 
proached, and after a steady gaze lie dived with the 
evident intention of getting clear away. Not so, 
however; the place where he dived was very shallow, 
owing to a long tongue of ice stretching out at a little 
distance beneath the surface, and each dive the poor 
wretch made only brought him nearer to us. His 
evident confusion only made matters worse, and as he 
rose each time he glared at us with baffled rage, and 
growled aloud meaningly in his perplexity, his whole 
•aspect giving us the idea that he knew his impending 
fate, for he rushed madly towards us, when we, always 
ready with the haak-pick, secured him by a well- 
directed blow on the head. All this time the fog is 
•steadily closing round us, creeping up with the wind 
from the far horizon. In order to discover our where¬ 
abouts we fire a gun from time to time, and the 
•signal in reply comes sounding over the ice; without 
further delay, the oars force the boat through the ice cold 
water, and as we give way with all our might, after 
a three hours’ pull, during which time we have to clear 
the many islets of ice which intercept our course, a clear 
space in the surrounding gloom, owing to the fog 
lifting, gives us a momentary view of the ship looming 
towards us in the distance, and thanks to this oppor¬ 
tunity we are saved a weary search for the long 
wished-for deck. The game being counted gave a 
