satisfactorily established, and a calculation of the longitude of the
house was deduced with an accuracy which in those circumstances was
certainly commendable. Nevertheless, as the facts and the theory of
refraction were not thoroughly understood, nor Tycho Brahe's tables of
refraction generally known, pilot Barendz could not be expected to be
wiser than his generation.

The startling discovery that in the latitude of 76 deg. the sun
reappeared on the 24th January, instead of the 10th February, was
destined to awaken commotion throughout the whole scientific world,
and has perhaps hardly yet been completely explained.

But the daylight brought no mitigation of their sufferings. The
merciless cold continued without abatement, and the sun seemed to mock
their misery. The foxes disappeared, and the ice-bears in their stead
swarmed around the house, and clambered at night over the roof. Again
they constantly fought with them for their lives. Daily the grave
question was renewed whether the men should feed on the bears or the
bears on the men. On one occasion their dead enemy proved more dangerous
to them than in life, for three of their number, who had fed on bear's
liver, were nearly poisoned to death. Had they perished, none of the
whole party would have ever left Nova Zembla. "It seemed," said the
diarist, "that the beasts had smelt out that we meant to go away, and had
just begin to have a taste for us."

And thus the days wore on. The hour-glass and the almanac told them
that winter had given place to spring, but nature still lay in cold
obstruction. One of their number, who had long been ill, died. They
hollowed a grave for him in the frozen snow, performing a rude burial
service, and singing a psalm; but the cold had nearly made them all