There was no getting past it except by making a deep bend out of the course. At last a lead was discovered; but still the Forward made slow progress, for the fog came on, and this is a serious obstacle to a sailing vessel among ice. So long as the pilot can see a mile ahead, he can easily steer his way through the packs; but often it is so thick that he can- not see a cable's length before him, and the difficulty was increased by the blinding snow.
The birds were still very numerous, and their cries were deafening; the seals lolling indolently on the drifting floes, betrayed little fear, though they stretched out their long necks and gazed with wondering eyes as the vessel passed by.
At length, after six days' wearisome navigation, Point Beecher appeared to the north. Hatteras betook himself to the mast-head, and remained there for hours; for the open sea discovered by Stewart in May, 1851, could not be far off, and yet no sign of it as yet could be discovered. He came down again after his long watch without saying a word.
"Do you believe in this open sea?" asked Shandon, speaking to James Wall.
"I begin to have my doubts," was the reply.
"Was I not right, after all, in treating this pretended discovery as a mere chimera? And yet no one would listen to me, and even you, Wall, took the other side of the question."
"They will listen to you now, Shandon."
"Yes, when it is too late," he replied, and retired to his cabin, to which he had confined himself almost entirely since his discussion with the captain.
According to Penny, the sea ought to be quite clear now, for they had reached Point Barrow after taking ten days to go thirty miles. What was Hatteras to think? Was Penny's statement altogether apocryphal, or had winter already set in?
On the 15th of August the snow-covered head of Mount Percy appeared through the fog, and next day the sun set for the first time after incessant day for so long. However, the darkness which followed was by no means complete; though the sun had set, the refraction of his rays still gave sufficient light.
