were lucky enough to come early into the
seals. From the Conner's barrel, in which I spent a great deal of
time, we saw one morning black dots spread away in thousands all over
the ice-floes through which we were butting, ramming, and fighting our
way. All hands were over the side at once, and very soon patients
began needing a doctor. Here a cut, there a wrench or sprain, and
later came thirty or forty at a time with snow-blindness or
conjunctivitis--very painful and disabling, though not fatal to sight.

One morning we had been kept late relieving these various slight
ailments, and the men being mostly out on the ice made me think that
they were among the seals; so I started out alone as soon as I could
slip over the side to join them. This, however, I failed to do till
late in the afternoon, when the strong wind, which had kept the loose
ice packed together, dropped, and in less than no time it was all
"running abroad." The result naturally is that one cannot get along
except by floating on one piece to another, and that is a slow process
without oars. It came on dark and a dozen of us who had got together
decided to make for a large pan not far distant; but were obliged to
give it up, and wait for the ship which had long gone out of sight. To
keep warm we played "leap-frog," "caps," and "hop, skip, and jump"--at
which some were very proficient. We ate our sugar and oatmeal, mixed
with some nice clear snow; and then, shaving our wooden seal bat
handles, and dipping them into the fat of the animals which we had
killed, we made a big blaze periodically to attract the attention of
the ship.

It was well into the night before we were picked up; and no sooner had
we climbed over the rail than the skipper came and gave us the best or
worst "blowing-up" I ever received since my father spanked me. He told
me afterwards that his good heart was really so relieved by our safe
return that he was scarcely conscious of what he said. Indeed, any
words which might have been considered as unparliamentary he asked me
to construe as gratitude to God.

Our captain was a passenger on and prospective captain of the S.S.
Tigris when she picked up those members of the ill-fated Polaris
expedition who had been five months on the ice-pans. He had gone below
from his watch and daylight was just breaking when the next watch came
and reported a boat and some people on a large pan, with the American
flag flying. A kayak came off and Hans, an