Letter 4

           ToMrs.Saville,England

           August5th,17—

           SostrangeanaccidenthashappenedtousthatIcannotforbearrecordingit,althoughitisveryprobablethatyouwillseemebeforethesepaperscancomeintoyourpossession.

           LastMonday(July31st)wewerenearlysurroundedbyice,whichclosedintheshiponallsides,scarcelyleavingherthesea-roominwhichshefloated.Oursituationwassomewhatdangerous,especiallyaswewerecompassedroundbyaverythickfog.Weaccordinglylayto,hopingthatsomechangewouldtakeplaceintheatmosphereandweather.

           Abouttwoo’clockthemistclearedaway,andwebeheld,stretchedoutineverydirection,vastandirregularplainsofice,whichseemedtohavenoend.Someofmycomradesgroaned,andmyownmindbegantogrowwatchfulwithanxiousthoughts,whenastrangesightsuddenlyattractedourattentionanddivertedoursolicitudefromourownsituation.Weperceivedalowcarriage,fixedonasledgeanddrawnbydogs,passontowardsthenorth,atthedistanceofhalfamile;abeingwhichhadtheshapeofaman,butapparentlyofgiganticstature,satinthesledgeandguidedthedogs.Wewatchedtherapidprogressofthetravellerwithourtelescopesuntilhewaslostamongthedistantinequalitiesoftheice.

           Thisappearanceexcitedourunqualifiedwonder.Wewere,aswebelieved,manyhundredmilesfromanyland;butthisapparitionseemedtodenotethatitwasnot,inreality,sodistantaswehadsupposed.Shutin,however,byice,itwasimpossibletofollowhistrack,whichwehadobservedwiththegreatestattention.