is at once heard ordering silence. These examinations are made by means
of a telephone, through which a very faint noise is heard, which dies
slowly away; the moment at which it stops must be exactly ascertained.

"I find remarkably little salt all the way to the bottom in the water
here; it must be mixed with fresh water from the Siberian river.

"There was some pressure this morning, going on till nearly noon,
and we heard the noise of it in several directions. In the afternoon
the ice was quite slack, with a large opening alongside the port
side of the ship. At half-past seven pretty strong pressure began,
the ice crashing and grinding along the ship's side. About midnight
the roar of packing was heard to the south.

"Saturday, November 11th. There has been some pressure in the course
of the day. The newly formed ice is about 15 inches thick. It is hard
on the top, but looser and porous below. This particular piece of ice
began to form upon a large opening in the night between the 27th and
28th October, so it has frozen 15 inches in 15 days. I observed that
it froze 3 inches the first night, and 5 inches altogether during
the three first nights; so that it has taken 12 days to the last
10 inches."

Even this small observation serves to show that the formation of ice
goes on most easily where the crust is thin, becoming more and more
difficult as the thickness increases, until at a certain thickness,
as we observed later, it stops altogether. "It is curious that the
pressure has gone on almost all day--no slackening such as we have
usually observed."

"Sunday, November 19th. Our life has gone on its usual monotonous
routine since the 11th. The wind has been steadily from the south all
week, but to-day there is a little from N.N.W. We have had pressure
several times, and have heard sounds of it in the southeast. Except
for this, the ice has been unusually quiet, and it is closed in tightly
round the ship. Since the last strong pressure we have probably 10 to
20 feet of ice packed in below us. [36] Hansen to-day worked out an
observation taken the day before yesterday, and surprised us with the
welcome intelligence that we have travelled 44' north and a little
east since the 8th. We are now in 78 deg. 27' north latitude, 139 deg. 23'
east longitude. This is farther east than we have been yet. For any
sake, let us only keep on as we are going!

"The Fram is a warm, cozy abode. Whether the thermometer stands at
22