Kane made one more landing on the Greenland coast, at Sukkertoppen. The natives of this place collected reindeer skins, and had just sent four thousand to Denmark. Kane bought a stock of skins for clothing, also a large supply of sealskins for boots. The party then bade farewell to the governor of the colony and put out to sea. The ship sailed northward for several days. Every day the weather became colder and the ice thicker. One day a heavy gale arose, and the ship tossed about so among the icebergs and the floating cakes that her escape from being crushed was marvelous. Captain Kane, who was a very ingenious man, devised a method of avoiding this danger from ice crushing. His plan was to attach the vessel to an iceberg and let her float after it, for there is always open water around a berg. The plan sounded very simple, but Kane had not reckoned on the nature of icebergs. After eight hours of hard work the anchors were fastened, but before the men had time to breathe freely, a few crackling sounds were heard and pieces of ice the size of walnuts fell on the deck like hail. The sailors had just time to cast off from the berg when it fell, with a crash, into the water around them. Not long after this the _Advance_ became so firmly fastened in the ice that they could not push her in any direction. The party then left the brig and explored the country around, traveling forty miles, and at last climbing to the top of an iceberg, a height of eleven hundred feet above the sea. On every side, as far as the eye could reach from this great elevation, spread out a solid sea of ice. It was now September, and the temperature fell below freezing. It seemed certain that the _Advance_ could not be freed from the ice until the next summer, and the explorers accordingly prepared to pass the winter there. They succeeded in dragging the vessel and wedging it in between two islands. In this harbor, known as Rensselaer bay, the stanch little _Advance_ was frozen solidly in, never to be released. VII. WINTER IN RENSSELAER HARBOR 1853–1854 The Arctic winter had set in. By the middle of September the thermometer had fallen to 14° and the ice was thickening fast. The long Arctic night was upon the explorers. During that first winter in Rensselaer harbor, the sun was below the horizon one hundred and twenty days, and ninety of these days were totally dark; for the remaining thirty days a faint light like our twilight glimmered during a part of every twenty-four hours. During the time of darkness little exploring can be done. Explorers are obliged to stay on or near their ship and amuse themselves as best they may until the sun shines again. Can you fancy a night which lasts as long as ninety of our days? Think of not seeing the sun for more than three months! These men on the _Advance_ suffered from a cold such as we know nothing about, and were often hungry too. Many of them became ill.