noon
The night was colder and a fine snow fell , which quickly covered the ground . This first sign of winter was hailed with delight by all who knew of the peril of their situation . On the 2nd September the sky gradually became free from vapours of all kinds , and the sun again appeared . Patiently the Lieutenant awaited its culmination ; at noon he took the latitude , and two hours later a calculation of hour-angles gave him the longitude . The following were the results obtained : Latitude , 70 ° 57 ' ; longitude , 170 ° 30 ' . So that , in spite of the violence of the hurricane , the island had remained in much the same latitude , although it had been drifted somewhat farther west . They were now abreast of Behring Strait , but four hundred miles at least north of Capes East and Prince of Wales , which jut out on either side at the narrowest part of the passage .