ough, from S.S.W., and now, 12 P.M., its velocity is 11 feet,
and the temperature has risen to 43 deg. Fahr. below zero ( -42 deg. C.). This
promises well. We should soon reach 81 deg.. The land to the northward
has now vanished from my mind's eye.

"We had lime-juice with sugar at dinner to-day instead of beer,
and it seemed to be approved of. We call it wine, and we agreed
that it was better than cider. Weighing has gone on this evening,
and the increase in certain cases is still disquieting. Some have
gained as much as 4 pounds in the last month--for instance, Sverdrup,
Blessing, and Juell, who beats the record on board with 13 stone. 'I
never weighed so much as I do now,' says Blessing, and it is much
the same story with us all. Yes, this is a fatiguing expedition,
but our menus are always in due proportion to our labors. To-day's
dinner: Knorr's bean soup, toad-in-the-hole, potatoes, rice and milk,
with cranberry jam. Yesterday's dinner: Fish au gratin (hashed fish)
with potatoes, curried rabbit with potatoes and French beans, stewed
bilberries, and cranberries with milk. At breakfast yesterday we
had freshly baked wheat-bread, at breakfast to-day freshly baked
rye-bread. These are specimens of our ordinary bills of fare. It
is as I expected: I hear the wind roaring in the rigging now; it is
going to be a regular storm, according to our ideas of one here.

"Saturday, February 10th. Though that wind the other day did not
come to much after all, we still hoped that we had made good way
north, and it was consequently an unwelcome surprise when yesterday's
observation showed our latitude to be 79 deg. 57' N., 13' farther south
instead of farther north. It is extraordinary how little inured
one gets to disappointments; the longing begins again; and again
attainment seems so far off, so doubtful. And this though I dream at
nights just now of getting out of the ice west of Iceland. Hope is a
rickety craft to trust one's self to. I had a long, successful drive
with the dogs to-day.

"Sunday, February 11th. To-day we drove out with two teams of
dogs. Things went well; the sledges got on much better over this ice
than I thought they would. They do not sink much in the snow. On flat
ice four dogs can draw two men.

"Tuesday, February 13th. A long drive southwest yesterday with white
dogs. To-day still farther in the same direction on snow-shoes. It
is good healthy exercise, with a temperature of 43 deg. Fahr. to 47 deg.