56 degrees 32 minutes. The
temperature had risen, the thermometer standing at 25 degrees above
zero.

The doctor amused himself with watching the gambols of a she-bear and
two cubs on some pack-ice near the shore. Accompanied by Wall and
Simpson, he tried to chase them in a canoe; but she was in a very
peaceful mood, and ran away with her young, so that the doctor had to
give up his attempt.

[Illustration]

During the night a favorable breeze carried them well to the north,
and soon the lofty mountains of Disco were peering above the horizon;
Godharn Bay, where the governor of the Danish settlements lived, was
left on the right. Shandon did not consider it necessary to land, and
he soon passed by the canoes of the Esquimaux, who had put out to meet
him.

The island of Disco is also called Whale Island; it is from here that,
on the 12th of July, 1845, Sir John Franklin wrote to the Admiralty
for the last time, and it was also here that Captain MacClintock
stopped on his way back, bringing too sure proofs of the loss of that
expedition.

This coincidence was not unknown to the doctor; the place was one of
sad memories, but soon the heights of Disco were lost to view.

There were many icebergs on its shores, which no thaws ever melt away;
this gives the island a singular appearance from the sea.

The next day, at about three o'clock, Sanderson's Hope appeared in the
northeast; land lay about fifteen miles to starboard; the mountains
appeared of a dusky red hue. During the evening many fin-backs were
seen playing in the ice, and occasionally blowing.

[Illustration]

It was in the night of May 3d, that the doctor for the first time saw
the sun touch the horizon without setting; since January 31st its
orbit had been getting longer every day, and now there was unbroken
daylight.

For those who were unaccustomed to it, this continuance of the day is
a cause of perpetual surprise, and even of weariness; it is difficult
to believe how necessary the darkness of the night is for the eyes;
the doctor actually suffered from the continual brilliancy, which was
increased by the reflection from the ice.

May 5th the _Forward_ passed the sixty-second parallel. Two months
later they would have met numerous whalers in these latitudes; but the
straits were not yet free enough to allow easy ingress into Baffin's
Bay.

The next day, the brig, after passing Woman's Island, came in sight of
Upernavik, the northernmost statio