irits of wine was deplorable, as without it
it was impossible to get any hot drinks--no tea nor coffee.

The doctor made an inventory of the provisions that were left, and
found that the animals had eaten two hundred pounds of pemmican and
a hundred and fifty pounds of biscuit; if the travellers continued
their journey they would be obliged to put themselves on half-rations.
They deliberated about what was to be done under the circumstances.
Should they return to the brig and begin their expedition again? But
how could they resolve to lose the hundred and fifty miles already
cleared? and coming back without the fuel, how would they be received
by the crew? and which of them would begin the excursion again? It
was evident that the best thing to do was to go on, even at the price
of the worst privations. The doctor, Hatteras, and Bell were for going
on, but Simpson wanted to go back; his health had severely suffered
from the fatigues of the journey, and he grew visibly weaker; but
at last, seeing he was alone in his opinion, he took his place at
the head of the sledge, and the little caravan continued its route.
During the three following days, from the 15th to the 17th of January,
the monotonous incidents of the journey took place again. They went
on more slowly; the travellers were soon tired; their legs ached with
fatigue, and the dogs drew with difficulty. Their insufficient food
told upon them. The weather changed with its usual quickness, going
suddenly from intense cold to damp and penetrating fogs.

On the 18th of January the aspect of the ice-field changed all at
once. A great number of peaks, like pyramids, ending in a sharp point
at a great elevation, showed themselves on the horizon. The soil in
certain places was seen through the layer of snow; it seemed to consist
of schist and quartz, with some appearance of calcareous rock. At
last the travellers had reached _terra firma_, and, according to their
estimation, the continent must be New Cornwall. The doctor was
delighted to tread on solid ground once more; the travellers had only
a hundred more miles to go before reaching Belcher Cape; but the
trouble of walking increased on this rocky soil, full of inequalities,
crevices, and precipices; they were obliged to plunge into the
interior of the land and climb the high cliffs on the coast, across
narrow gorges, in which the snow was piled up to a height of thirty
or forty feet. The travellers soon had cause to re