bove the surface of the water. It was
thus not very large, but gave the vessel good shelter. This
ground-ice, along with the vessel and the newly formed ice-field
lying between it and the shore, was indeed moved considerably nearer
land during the violent autumn storms. A groan or two and a knocking
sound in the hull of the vessel indicated that it did not escape
very severe pressure; but the _Vega_ did not during the course of
the winter suffer any damage, either from this or from the severe
cold, during which sharp reports often indicated that some crack in
the woodwork had widened through the freezing of the water that had
made its way into the vessel. "Cold so that the walls crack" is a
well-known expression, with which we inhabitants of the North often
connect memories from some stormy winter evening, passed by the home
hearth; but here these reports heard in our cabins, especially at
night, were unpleasant enough, giving rise to fears that the newly
formed or widened cracks would cause dangerous leaks in the vessel's
hull. In consequence of iron contracting more than wood under the
influence of cold, the heads of the iron bolts, with which the
ship's timbers were fastened together, in the course of the winter
sank deep into the outside planking. But no serious leak arose in
this way, perhaps because the cold only acted on that part of the
vessel which lay above the surface of the water.

Already during the first days of our wintering we interpreted
various lively accounts of the natives, which they illustrated by
signs, to mean that a whaler would be found at Serdze Kamen, in the
neighbourhood of the _Vega's_ winter haven. On this account
Lieutenant Brusewitz was sent out on the 4th October with two men
and the little boat, _Louise_, built in Copenhagen for the
expedition of 1872-73, and intended for sledge-journeys, with
instructions to ascertain, if possible, if such was the case. He
returned late at night the same day without having got sight of any
vessel. We now supposed that the whole depended on our having
misunderstood the accounts of the Chukches. But a letter which I
received after our return, from Mr. W. BARTLETT, dated New Bedford,
6th January, 1880, shows that this had not been the case. For he
writes, among other things:--

"The writer's son, GIDEON W. BAKTLETT, left San Francisco
1st June, 1878, in our freighter ship _Syren_, of 875
tons, for St. Lawrence Bay, arriving there July 8th,