n ourselves, while half a gale from the S.E. is
blowing us northward. The mill has been going to-day, and though the
real sun did not come to the festival, our saloon sun lighted up our
table both at dinner and supper. Great face-washing in honor of the
day. The way we are laying on flesh is getting serious. Several of
us are like prize pigs, and the bulge of cook Juell's cheeks, not
to mention another part of his body, is quite alarming. I saw him in
profile to-day, and wondered how he would ever manage to carry such
a corporation over the ice if we should have to turn out one of these
fine days. Must begin to think of a course of short rations now.

"Wednesday, February 21st. The south wind continues. Took up the
bag-nets to-day which were put out the day before yesterday. In the
upper one, which hung near the surface, there were chiefly amphipoda;
in Murray's net, which hung at about 50 fathoms' depth, there was a
variety of small crustacea and other small animals shining with such a
strong phosphorescence that the contents of the net looked like glowing
embers as I emptied them out in the cook's galley by lamplight. To
my astonishment the net-line pointed northwest, though from the wind
there ought to be a good northerly drift. To clear this matter up I
let the net down in the afternoon, and as soon as it got a little way
under the ice the line pointed northwest again, and continued to do
so the whole afternoon. How is this phenomenon to be explained? Can
we, after all, be in a current moving northwest? Let us hope that the
future will prove such to be the case. We can reckon on two points of
variation in the compass, and in that case the current would make due
N.N.W. There seems to be strong movement in the ice. It has opened
and formed channels in several places.

"Thursday, February 22d. The net-line has pointed west all day till
now, afternoon, when it is pointing straight up and down, and we
are presumably lying still. The wind slackened to-day till it was
quite calm in the afternoon. Then there came a faint breeze from
the southwest and from the west, and this evening the long-dreaded
northwester has come at last. At 9 P.M. it is blowing pretty hard from
N.N.W. An observation of Capella taken in the afternoon would seem
to show that we are in any case not farther north than 80 deg. 11' and
this after almost four days' south wind. Whatever can be the meaning
of this? Is there dead-water under the ice, keeping