Another great misfortune that happened was that both our shovels came to grief--the handles breaking off at the junction between the wood and iron. We, however, succeeded in "fishing" and thus rendering them serviceable. We should be in a sorry plight if any accident happened to our pickaxes as well as to our shovels. As an instance of the amount of walking we had to perform, I may mention that to-day I had, of necessity, to cross the same floe, on which the snow was knee-deep, no less than thirteen times, "and didn't I hate that blackguard floe!" _April 28th._--The temperature actually rose as high as +2°! This is the first day that we have registered the thermometer above zero! It is a decided improvement. Last night, inside my tent, the temperature was as high as 33°, and, in spite of a hard day's work, we were all busily employed, after supper was over, in some way or another. A couple were splicing lanyards in their drag-belts; one was tailoring; another repairing his moccasins; one was darning his mitts, and another patching up his stockings with an old blanket wrapper; whilst I was both reading aloud and dressing and bandaging my patients' legs. All were smoking except myself. The effect in a small confined tent may be imagined! Two of the men, who are not tobacco smokers, smoked what they called "herb" tobacco, which diffused a rather pleasing aroma, and served to deaden the unpleasantness of the tobacco smoke. It is composed of various dried aromatic herbs, and is, I believe, recommended by the faculty for many disorders. The travelling was as bad as ever--through heavy hummocks and deep snow-drifts. We had the misfortune to capsize the sledge, on which was one of the invalids; but a slight delay was the only inconvenience caused. The weather in the afternoon became very thick, making it extremely difficult to select a route. Everything was of one uniform colour: above, below, behind, and before; all was alike, and it was quite impossible to tell whether we were going up or down hill until a fall would inform us of the fact. To our great surprise, this evening, we came across the traces of a hare in the soft snow. They were apparently recent, and travelling in a southerly direction. The little creature was evidently very tired, as the footsteps appeared to be close together. Poor Pussy! it must have wandered out on the floe and lost itself, for we were quite seventeen miles from the nearest land. I have no doubt, if we had followed up the track, that we should have found the poor little animal lying dead or exhausted under some hummock, famished for want of food.