ifications, all had melted in the sun, and the supplies had been
devoured by hungry beasts.

It was a sad sight.

They were nearly at the end of their supplies, and they had intended
to renew them at Fort Providence. The impossibility of passing the
winter there was evident. Like people accustomed to decide rapidly,
they determined to reach Baffin's Bay as soon as possible.

"We have nothing else to do," said the doctor; "Baffin's Bay is not
six hundred miles from here; we might sail as far as our launch would
carry us, reach Jones's Sound, and from there the Danish settlements."

"Yes," answered Altamont; "let us collect all the provisions we can,
and leave."

By strict search they found a few chests of pemmican here and there,
and two barrels of preserved meat, which had escaped destruction. In
short, they had a supply for six weeks, and powder enough. This was
promptly collected. The day was devoted to calking the launch,
repairing it, and the next day, July 24th, they put out to sea again.

The continent towards latitude 83 degrees inclined towards the east.
It was possible that it joined the countries known under the name of
Grinnell Land, Ellesmere, and North Lincoln, which form the coast-line
of Baffin's Bay. They could then hold it for certain that Jones's
Sound opened in the inner seas, like Lancaster Sound. The launch then
sailed without much difficulty, easily avoiding the floating ice. The
doctor, by way of precaution against possible delay, put them all on
half-rations; but this did not trouble them much, and their health was
unimpaired.

Besides, they were able to shoot occasionally; they killed ducks,
geese, and other game, which gave them fresh and wholesome food. As
for their drink, they had a full supply from the floating ice, which
they met on the way, for they took care not to go far from the coast,
the launch being too small for the open sea.

At this period of the year the thermometer was already, for the
greater part of time, beneath the freezing-point; after a certain
amount of rainy weather snow began to fall, with other signs of the
end of summer; the sun sank nearer the horizon, and more and more of
its disk sank beneath it every day. July 30th they saw it disappear
for the first time, that is to say, they had a few minutes of night.

Still, the launch sailed well, sometimes making from sixty to
seventy-five miles a day; they did not stop a moment; they knew what
fatigues to endure,