iation of the air by my own breathing.

My first business was to light the fire and set my breakfast to thaw,
and boil me a kettle of water; and some time after I went on deck to
view the weather and to revolve in my mind the routine of the day. On
opening the door of the companion-hatch I was nearly blinded by the
glorious brilliance of the sunshine on the snow; after the blackness of
the cabin it was like looking at the sun himself, and I had to stand a
full three minutes with my hand upon my eyes before I could accustom my
sight to the dazzling glare. It was fine weather again; the sky over the
glass-like masts of the schooner was a clear dark blue, with a few light
clouds blowing over it from the southward. The wind had shifted at last;
but, pure as the heavens were, the breeze was piping briskly with the
weight and song of a small gale, and its fangs of frost, even in the
comparative quiet of the sheltered deck, bit with a fierceness that had
not been observable yesterday.

The moment I had the body of the vessel in my sight I perceived that
she had changed her position since my last view of her. Her bows were
more raised, and she lay over further by the depth of a plank. I stared
earnestly at the rocky slopes on either hand, but could not have sworn
their figuration was changed. An eager hope shot into my mind, but it
quickly faded into an emotion of apprehension. It was conceivable indeed
that on a sudden some early day I might find the schooner liberated and
afloat, and this was the first inspiriting flush; but then came the fear
that the disruption and volcanic throes of the ice might crush her, a
fear rational enough when I saw the height she lay above the sea, and
how by pressure those slopes which formed her cradle might be jammed and
welded together. The change of her posture then fell upon me with a kind
of shock, and determined me, when I had broken my fast, to search her
hold for a boat or for materials for constructing some ark by which I
might float out to sea, should the ice grow menacing and force me from
the schooner.

I made a plentiful meal, feeling the need of abundance of food in such a
temperature as this, and heartily grateful that there was no need why I
should stint myself. The having to pass the two figures every time I
went on deck and returned was extremely disagreeable and unnerving, and
I considered that, after searching the hold, the next duty I owed myself
was to remove them on deck