what obstacles to surmount; the way by land was
before them, if they had to take it, and these confined seas must soon
be closed; indeed, the young ice was already forming here and there.
Winter suddenly succeeds summer in these latitudes; there are no
intermediate seasons; no spring, no autumn. So they had to hurry. July
31st, the sky being clear at sunset, the first stars were seen in the
constellations overhead. From this day on there was perpetual mist,
which interfered very much with their sailing. The doctor, when he saw
all the signs of winter's approach, became very uneasy; he knew the
difficulties Sir John Ross had found in getting to Baffin's Bay, after
leaving his ship; and indeed, having once tried to pass the ice, he
was obliged to return to his ship, and go into winter-quarters for the
fourth year; but he had at least a shelter against the weather, food,
and fuel. If such a misfortune were to befall the survivors of the
_Forward_, if they had to stop or put back, they were lost; the doctor
did not express his uneasiness to his companions; but he urged them to
get as far eastward as possible.

[Illustration]

Finally, August 15th, after thirty days of rather good sailing, after
struggling for forty-eight hours against the ice, which was
accumulating, after having imperilled their little launch a hundred
times, they saw themselves absolutely stopped, unable to go farther;
the sea was all frozen, and the thermometer marked on an average +15
degrees. Moreover, in all the north and east it was easy to detect the
nearness of land, by the presence of pebbles; frozen fresh water was
found more frequently. Altamont made an observation with great
exactness, and found they were in latitude 77 degrees 15 minutes, and
longitude 85 degrees 2 minutes.

"So, then," said the doctor, "this is our exact position; we have
reached North Lincoln, exactly at Cape Eden; we are entering Jones's
Sound; if we had been a little luckier, we should have found the sea
open to Baffin's Bay. But we need not complain. If my poor Hatteras
had at first found so open a sea, he would have soon reached the Pole,
his companions would not have deserted him, and he would not have lost
his reason under his terrible sufferings!"

"Then," said Altamont, "we have only one course to follow; to abandon
the launch, and get to the east coast of Lincoln by sledge."

"Abandon the launch and take the sledge? Well," answered the doctor;
"but instead of