62
THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE KARLUK
four degrees below zero, we found that the cracks
had closed up again. Twice during the day the
ice opened again but closed up at once. These
cracks were only an inch or two in width.
November began with a renewed violence of the
gale and we drifted to the northwest. For the
first time we pumped out the hold with a hand-
pump in the engine-room. As long as we had
steam up we did the pumping with steam from the
boiler but now that the boiler was blown down we
pumped by hand on deck, but that was a difficult
job on account of the cold, so by having a stove in
the engine-room which kept the temperature above
freezing we found that we could handle the pump
to better advantage there.
We built an observatory for Malloch by covering
in the bridge with boards and sails with an opening
at the top. Malloch had his transit here and was
untiring in his efforts to get our position. He re-
lieved me of much of the labor of taking the ob-
servations and was a great help throughout. In
the afternoon of this first of November we had
clear weather for a short time and were treated to
a remarkable display of the aurora, one of the few
that we had in all our months of drifting and ice
travel. During the gale that kept up all day we
dragged our dredge and parted the line, so that we
had to put on a new dredge. The next day we got
