the snow about; it was hard to determine whether it came
from the clouds or from the ice-fields; everything was in confusion.

The crew kept busy with various interior occupations, the principal
one being the preparation of the grease and oil from the seal; it was
frozen into blocks of ice, which had to be cut with a hatchet; it was
broken into small fragments, which were as hard as marble; ten barrels
full were collected. As may be seen, every vessel became nearly
useless, besides the risk of its breaking when the contents froze.

The 28th the thermometer fell to -32 degrees; there was only ten days'
coal on board, and every one awaited with horror the moment when it
should come to an end.

Hatteras, for the sake of economy, had the fire in the stove in the
after-room put out; and from that time Shandon, the doctor, and he
were compelled to betake themselves to the common-room of the crew.
Hatteras was hence brought into constant communication with his men,
who gazed at him with surly, dejected glances. He heard their
fault-finding, their reproaches, even their threats, without being
able to punish them. However, he seemed deaf to every remark. He never
went near the fire. He remained in a corner, with folded arms, without
saying a word.

[Illustration]

In spite of the doctor's recommendations, Pen and his friends refused
to take the slightest exercise; they passed whole days crouching about
the stove or under their bedclothes; hence their health began to
suffer; they could not react against the rigor of the climate, and
scurvy soon made its appearance on board.

The doctor had long since begun to distribute, every morning,
lemon-juice and lime pastilles; but these precautions, which were
generally so efficacious, did very little good to the sick; and the
disease, following its usual course, soon showed its most horrible
symptoms.

Terrible indeed it was to see those wretches with their nerves and
muscles contracted with pain! Their legs were fearfully swollen, and
were covered with large bluish-black patches; their bleeding gums,
their swollen lips, permitted them to utter only inarticulate sounds;
their blood was poisoned, deprived of fibrine, and no longer carried
life to the extremities.

Clifton was the first to be attacked by this cruel malady; soon
Gripper, Brunton, and Strong had to keep to their hammocks. Those whom
the illness spared could not avoid the sight of the sufferings of
their friends; th