Page:The open Polar Sea- a narrative of a voyage of discovery towards the North pole, in the schooner "United States" (IA openpolarseanarr1867haye).pdf/200

 sight, and not a speck is to be seen upon the unhappy waters which roll and tumble through the darkness around Cape Alexander.

The temperature during this gale has been, throughout, very mild. Although the wind was northeast, it has not been below zero at any time.

November 3d.

The travelers are off at last, and at ten o'clock this evening they disappoint me by not returning. Since it is evident that they have gone around Cape Ohlsen, which I had some reason to doubt, I see no cause why they should not reach their destination. They will have, however, cracks which have been opened by the recent gales, and doubtless heavily hummocked ice, to contend with; and I hardly know how Jensen will get on with this sort of traveling. Bad enough for those who are accustomed to it, it will be a sore trial to him. He is a splendid whip, and drives his dogs superbly when the ice is reasonably smooth, and the sledge glides glibly over it with the dogs at a gallop; but this floundering through hummocks and deep snow-drifts, where the sledge has to be lifted and is often capsized, where the dogs are continually getting into a snarl,—their traces tangled, their tempers ruffled, and a general fight resulting,—is a very different sort of business, and is what he is not used to. To get through with it one requires an almost superhuman stock of enduring patience; and if Jensen returns from this journey with a good record, I shall have no fears for him in the future. He is a very strong and able-bodied man, standing six feet in his shoes, and is of powerful muscular build. The knowledge acquired by some eight years' residence in Greenland, of hunt