the eye could long rest with pleasure, unless when directed to the
spot where our ships lay and where our little colony was planted.
The smoke which there issued from the several fires, affording a
certain indication of the presence of man, gave a partial
cheerfulness to this part of the prospect; and the sound of
voices, which, during the cold weather, could be heard at a much
greater distance than usual, served now and then to break the
silence which reigned around us; a silence far different from that
peaceable composure which characterizes the landscape of a
cultivated country; it was the deathlike stillness of the most
dreary desolation, and the total absence of animated existence.
Such, indeed, was the want of objects to afford relief to the eye
or amusement to the mind, that a stone of more than usual size
appearing above the snow in the direction in which we were going,
immediately became a mark on which our eyes were unconsciously
fixed, and towards which we mechanically advanced.

We had frequent occasion, in our walks on shore, to remark the
deception which takes place in estimating the distance and
magnitude of objects when viewed over an unvaried surface of snow.
It was not uncommon for us to direct our steps towards what we
took for a large mass of stone at the distance of half a mile from
us, but which we were able to take up in our hands after one
minute's walk. This was more particularly the case when ascending
the brow of a hill, nor did we find that the deception became less
on account of the frequency with which we experienced its effects.

In the afternoon the men were usually occupied in drawing and
knotting yarns, and in making points and gaskets; a never-failing
resource where mere occupation is required, and which it was