s difficult to guard against the reflection, for
the spectacle-glasses got covered with a layer of opaque ice which
obstructed the view, and when so much care was necessary for the
dangers of the route, it was important to see clearly; however, the
doctor and Bell took it in turns to cover their eyes or to guide the
sledge. The soil was volcanic, and by its inequalities made it very
difficult to draw the sledge, the frame of which was getting worn
out. Another difficulty was the effect of the uniform brilliancy of
the snow; the ground seemed to fall beneath the feet of the travellers,
and they experienced the same sensation as that of the rolling of
a ship; they could not get accustomed to it, and it made them sleepy,
and they often walked on half in a dream. Then some unexpected shock,
fall, or obstacle would wake them up from their inertia, which
afterwards took possession of them again.

On the 25th of January they began to descend, and their dangers
increased. The least slip might send them down a precipice, and there
they would have been infallibly lost. Towards evening an extremely
violent tempest swept the snow-clad summits; they were obliged to
lie down on the ground, and the temperature was so low that they were
in danger of being frozen to death. Bell, with the help of Hatteras,
built a snow-house, in which the poor fellows took shelter; there
they partook of a little pemmican and warm tea; there were only a
few gallons of spirits of wine left, and they were obliged to use
them to quench their thirst, as they could not take snow in its natural
state; it must be melted. In temperate countries, where the
temperature scarcely falls below freezing point, it is not injurious;
but above the Polar circle it gets so cold that it cannot be touched
more than a red-hot iron; there is such a difference of temperature
that its absorption produces suffocation. The Esquimaux would rather
suffer the greatest torments than slake their thirst with snow.

The doctor took his turn to watch at three o'clock in the morning,
when the tempest was at its height; he was leaning in a corner of
the snow-house, when a lamentable groan from Simpson drew his
attention; he rose to go to him, and struck his head against the roof;
without thinking of the accident he began to rub Simpson's swollen
limbs; after about a quarter of an hour he got up again, and bumped
his head again, although he was kneeling then.

"That's very queer," he said t