seals. On approaching it we noticed that there was a current which
tended to draw us past the ice in what I supposed to be a
southwesterly direction. This confirmed my worst fears. But now the
labor of landing and building a fire on the ice served to interest us
for a time and divert our thoughts. We brushed away the snow, and then
broke up a box which was in the boat, and also the stern seats. This
we used very sparingly, reserving the rest for another occasion. Then
we cut portions from one of the seals, and laid them in thin strips on
the flames. The cooking was but slight, for the meat was merely
singed; but we were ravenous, and the contact of the fire was enough
to give it an attractive flavor. With this food we were greatly
refreshed; and as for drink, we had all around us an endless extent of
ice and snow. Then, taking our precious fragments of cooked meat, we
returned to the boat and put off. We could scarcely tell what to do
next, and while debating on this point we fell asleep. We slept far
into the night, then awoke benumbed with cold; then took to the oars
till we were weary; then fell asleep again, to be again awakened by
the cold and again to pull at the oars. So the night passed, and
another day came.

The snow still held off, but the sky was overcast with dark,
leaden-colored clouds, and looked threatening. Ice was all around us
as before; and the open water had diminished now from ten miles to
five miles of width. The ice on one side was low, but on the opposite
side it arose to the height of one hundred feet. We saw here, as we
watched the shore, that the current which had already borne us thus
far was now stronger than ever, and was carrying us along at a rate
which made all efforts of ours against it utterly useless. And now a
debate arose between us as to the direction of this current. Agnew
suddenly declared his belief that it was running north, while I was