desired it. Towards evening several seals were seen, which,
with their noses just above the water, were swimming among the great
pieces of ice.

On the 22d the temperature was still falling; the _Forward_ carried a
great deal of steam to reach an easier sailing-place; the wind blew
steadily from the northwest; the sails were furled.

During Sunday the sailors had little to do. After divine service,
which was read by Shandon, the crew betook themselves to chasing wild
birds, of which they caught a great many. These birds, prepared
according to Dr. Clawbonny's method, were an agreeable addition to the
messes of the officers and crew.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, the _Forward_ sighted the Kin of
Sael, which lay east one quarter northeast, and the Mount Sukkertop,
southeast one quarter east half-east; the sea was very high; from time
to time a dense fog descended suddenly from the gray sky.
Notwithstanding, at noon they were able to take an observation. The
ship was found to be in latitude 65 degrees 20 minutes and longitude
54 degrees 22 minutes. They would have to go two degrees farther north
before they would find clearer sailing.

During the three following days, the 24th, 25th, and 26th of April,
they had uninterruptedly to fight with the ice; the management of the
engines became very tedious; every minute steam was shut off or
reversed, and escaped from the safety-valve.

In the dense mist their approach to the icebergs could be known only
by the dull roar of the avalanches; then the vessel would shift its
course at once; then there was the danger of running into the masses
of frozen fresh water, which were as clear as crystal and as hard as
stone. Richard Shandon used to take aboard a quantity of this ice
every day to supply the ship with fresh water.

The doctor could not accustom himself to the optical illusions
produced by refraction; indeed, an iceberg ten or twelve miles distant
used to seem to him to be a small piece of ice close by; he tried to
get used to this strange phenomenon, in order to be able by and by to
overcome the mistakes of his eyesight.

At last, both by towing the brig along the fields of ice and by
pushing off threatening blocks with poles, the crew was thoroughly
exhausted; and yet, on the 27th of April, the _Forward_ was still
detained on the impassable Polar Circle.

[Illustration]

CHAPTER VIII.
THE TALK OF THE CREW.

Nevertheless, by taking advantages of such