etrating mists.

January 18th the aspect of the ice-fields changed suddenly; a great
number of peaks, like sharp-pointed pyramids, and very high, appeared
at the horizon; the ground in certain places came through the snow; it
seemed formed of gneiss, schist, and quartz, with some appearance of
limestone. The travellers at last touched earth again, and this land
they judged to be that called North Cornwall.

The doctor could not help striking the earth with joy; they had now
only a hundred miles to go before reaching Cape Belcher, but their
fatigue increased strangely on this soil, covered with sharp rocks,
and interspersed with dangerous points, crevasses, and precipices;
they had to go down into the depths of these abysses, climb steep
ascents, and cross narrow gorges, in which the snow was drifted to the
depth of thirty or forty feet.

[Illustration]

The travellers soon regretted the almost easy journey over the
ice-fields, which so well suited the sledge; now it had to be dragged
by main force; the weary dogs were insufficient; the men, compelled to
take their place alongside of them, wore themselves out with hauling;
often they had to take off the whole load to get over some steep
hills; a place only ten feet wide often kept them busy for hours; so
in this first day they made only five miles in North Cornwall, which
is certainly well named, for it exhibits all the roughness, the sharp
points, the steep gorges, the confused rockiness, of the southwest
coast of England.

The next day the sledge reached the top of the hills near the shore;
the exhausted travellers, being unable to make a snow-hut, were
obliged to pass the night under the tent, wrapped up in buffalo-skins,
and drying their wet stockings by placing them about their bodies. The
inevitable consequences of such conduct are easily comprehended; that
night the thermometer fell below -44 degrees, and the mercury froze.

Simpson's health caused great anxiety; a persistent cough, violent
rheumatism, and intolerable pain obliged him to lie on the sledge
which he could no longer guide. Bell took his place; he too was
suffering, but not so much as to be incapacitated. The doctor also
felt the consequences of this trip in this terrible weather; but he
uttered no complaint; he walked on, resting on his staff; he made out
the way and helped every one. Hatteras, impassible, and as strong as
on the first day, followed the sledge in silence.

January 20th the w