Sonntag has given me a report of work done during my absence, and so has McCormick. With Jensen I have had a talk about the hunt. I have dined with the officers, and all goes "merry as a marriage bell." My companions on the journey have recovered from their fatigue, and they seem none the worse for the tramp, except such of them as have been touched by the frost; and these look sorry enough. They get little consolation from their shipmates.
SURVEYING. I am much gratified to find that every thing has gone on so smoothly while I was away. Sonntag has been twice to the glacier, and has finished the survey and made some spirited sketches. He has also done some valuable work on a base line, accurately measured upon the ice of the outer bay. This base line is 9100 feet long, and his triangulations give the following distances from the western point of Starr Island:—
To Cape Alexander, 8 nautical miles.
" " Isabella, 31 " "
" " Sabine, 42 " "
My commands respecting the hunt have been carefully observed, and numerous additions have been made to our rapidly accumulating stock of fresh food. This gives me much gratification. My experience with Dr. Kane has led me to believe that the scurvy, hitherto so often fatal to Arctic travelers, may be readily avoided by the liberal use of a fresh animal diet; and, although I have a fair supply of canned meats and a good allowance of fresh vegetables, yet I do not wish to depend wholly upon them; and, in order to make assurance doubly sure, I have endeavored to spare no pains in securing whatever game is within our reach. Accordingly I have always had a
