Page:The open Polar Sea- a narrative of a voyage of discovery towards the North pole, in the schooner "United States" (IA openpolarseanarr1867haye).pdf/236

 than what was necessary for the preparation of our meals, and for melting our necessary supply of water. To add to our astonishment, a heavy fall of snow was followed by a shower of rain, a circumstance which I had not previously witnessed in this latitude except in the months of July and August, and then scarcely more rain fell than on the present occasion. The depth of snow precipitated during this period was likewise remarkable,—the aggregate being 32 inches. In one single day 19 inches were deposited, greater by 5 inches than the entire accumlations of the winter of 1853-54 at Van Rensselaer Harbor. The total amount of snow which had fallen up to the first of December was 48 inches. Being so far north of the line of maximum snows, I was the more surprised, as my former experience appeared to have shown that the region of Smith's Sound was almost wholly free from nubilous deposits.

I was much interested at this warm period in observing how singularly perfect and beautiful were the snow crystals; and it is a somewhat singular circumstance that the perfect crystals are only exhibited when the snow falls in a temperature comparatively mild. I have not observed them when the thermometer ranged below zero. The snow is then quite dry and hard, and does not exhibit those soft, thin, transparent flakes of the warmer air. With the aid of a magnifying glass, I was enabled to obtain very accurate sketches of a large number of them. Their form was always hexagonal, but the rays were very various in their development, although they all possessed the same radical foundation. The most perfect and full suggested a diminutive fern leaf.

As we neared the climax of the winter the satisfac