CHAPTER X.
_Beginning of winter--Meetuck effects a remarkable change in the men's appearance--Mossing, and working, and plans for a winter campaign_.
In August the first frost came and formed "young ice" on the sea, but this lasted only for a brief hour or two, and was broken up by the tide and melted.

By the 10th of September the young ice cemented the floes of last year's ice together, and soon rendered the ice round the ship immovable.

Hummocks clustered round several rocky islets in the neighbourhood, and the rising and falling of the tide covered the sides of the rocks with bright crystals.

All the feathered tribes took their departure for less rigorous climes, with the exception of a small white bird about the size of a sparrow, called the snow-bird, which is the last to leave the icy North.

Then a tremendous storm arose, and the sea became choked up with icebergs and floes, which the frost soon locked together into a solid mass.