before their new residence. Ten days later they moved into the house and
slept there for the first time, while a bear, profiting by their absence,
passed the night in the deserted ship.

On the 4th November the sun rose no more, but the moon at first shone day
and night, until they were once in great perplexity to know whether it
were midday or midnight. It proved to be exactly noon. The bears
disappeared with the sun, but white foxes swarmed in their stead, and all
day and night were heard scrambling over their roof. These were caught
daily in traps and furnished them food, besides furs for raiment. The
cold became appalling, and they looked in each other's faces sometimes in
speechless amazement. It was obvious that the extreme limit of human
endurance had been reached. Their clothes were frozen stiff. Their
shoes were like iron, so that they were obliged to array themselves from
head to foot in the skins of the wild foxes. The clocks stopped. The
beer became solid. The Spanish wine froze and had to be melted in
saucepans. The smoke in the house blinded them. Fire did not warm them,
and their garments were often in a blaze while their bodies were half
frozen. All through the month of December an almost perpetual snow-
deluge fell from the clouds. For days together they were unable to
emerge, and it was then only by most vigorous labour that they could
succeed in digging a passage out of their buried house. On the night of
the 7th December sudden death had nearly put an end to the sufferings of
the whole party. Having brought a quantity of seacoal from the ship,
they had made a great fire, and after the smoke was exhausted, they had
stopped up the chimney and every crevice of the house. Each man then
turned into his bunk for the night, "all rejoicing much in the warmth and
prattling a long time with each other." At last an unaccustomed
giddiness and faintness came over them, of which they could not guess the
cause, but fortunately one of the party had the instinct, before he lost