o kindle a fire all
around the animal; and when the heat had become strong enough just to
loosen the hide from the carcass, I went to work, and, in an hour or
two, had a nice warm robe to wrap myself in at night. At the same time I
extinguished the fire, as I did not care to cook the entire bear all at
once.

My jar of water gave out the day that I was dropped upon the berg; and
at first I thought that I could quench my thirst by eating small bits of
ice, but I soon found that this only increased the difficulty. I then
remembered to have read in a magazine, that the amount of caloric taken
out of the system in order to melt the ice in one's mouth was so great
as to only increase the feeling of thirst. All anxiety, however, on this
point was soon at an end; for the sun was now hot enough, for an hour
or two at noon, to melt a sufficient quantity of the loose snow in
certain localities to furnish all the water that I needed.

With my bear-meat and Bent's crackers for food, and my bearskin for a
blanket, I might now be considered for the present as above the reach of
absolute want; and still it is not to be supposed that I was in a very
contented and happy frame of mind. I was very thankful for all the
mercies that I had received; and, when I looked back upon all the
wonderful deliverances that I had experienced, I could not help feeling
confident that all would go well with me hereafter.[1]

But the great want that I felt was _a home_, or at least
something,--some hut or hovel, or hole in the ground,--to which I might
retire when my labor was over, where I could eat my frugal meals, and
lie down to slumber at night. I longed for a place in which I could feel
that I was _localized_, around which domestic associations might
gradually entwine themselves, and where I might sing in the twilight the
songs of my childhood.[2]

The fifth day of my sojourn on the iceberg was the great day of
discovery. I determined, that morning, that I would now make a thorough
survey of the whole island. I knew that it would be rough work, and
somewhat dangerous; for, in some places, there were cavities fifty feet
deep, and I should have to climb over some very steep ice, where it was
as smooth as glass. Before starting, I pulled several nails out of the
hoops that lay around, and drove them into the soles of my boots; and I
was fortunate enough to find a good stout stick, into the end of which I
also fastened one of the nails. Filling my po