feel that we are moving onward.

"Saturday, October 13th. Same wind to-day; velocity up to 39 feet
and higher, but Hansen has taken an observation this evening in spite
of it. He is, as always, a fine, indefatigable fellow. We are going
northwest (81 deg. 32' 8'' north latitude, 118 deg. 28' east longitude).

"Sunday, October 14th. Still the same storm going on. I am reading
of the continual sufferings which the earlier Arctic explorers had
to contend with for every degree, even for every minute, of their
northward course. It gives me almost a feeling of contempt for us,
lying here on sofas, warm and comfortable, passing the time reading
and writing and smoking and dreaming, while the storm is tugging
and tearing at the rigging above us and the whole sea is one mass of
driving snow, through which we are carried degree by degree northward
to the goal our predecessors struggled towards, spending their strength
in vain. And yet....

"'Now sinks the sun, now comes the night.'

"Monday, October 15th. Went snow-shoeing eastward this morning, still
against the same wind and the same snowfall. You have to pay careful
attention to your course these days, as the ship is not visible any
great distance, and if you did not find your way back, well--But
the tracks remain pretty distinct, as the snow-crust is blown bare
in most places, and the drifting snow does not fasten upon it. We
are moving northward, and meanwhile the Arctic night is making its
slow and majestic entrance. The sun was low to-day; I did not see it
because of banks of cloud in the south; but it still sent its light
up over the pale sky. There the full moon is now reigning, bathing
the great ice plain and the drifting snow in its bright light. How a
night such as this raises one's thoughts! It does not matter if one
has seen the like a thousand times before; it makes the same solemn
impression when it comes again; one cannot free one's mind from its
power. It is like entering a still, holy temple, where the spirit of
nature hovers through the place on glittering silver beams, and the
soul must fall down and adore--adore the infinity of the universe.

"Wednesday, October 17th. We are employed in taking deep-water
temperatures. It is a doubtful pleasure at this time of year. Sometimes
the water-lifter gets coated with ice, so that it will not close down
below in the water, and has, therefore, to hang for ever so long each
time; and sometimes it fr