About two o'clock
Last Monday -LRB- July 31st -RRB- , we were nearly surrounded by ice , which closed in the ship on all sides , scarcely leaving her the sea-room in which she floated . Our situation was somewhat dangerous , especially as we were compassed round by a very thick fog . We accordingly lay to , hoping that some change would take place in the atmosphere and weather . About two o'clock the mist cleared away , and we beheld , stretched out in every direction , vast and irregular plains of ice , which seemed to have no end . Some of my comrades groaned , and my own mind began to grow watchful with anxious thoughts , when a strange sight suddenly attracted our attention , and diverted our solicitude from our own situation . We perceived a low carriage , fixed on a sledge and drawn by dogs , pass on towards the north , at the distance of half a mile : a being which had the shape of a man , but apparently of gigantic stature , sat in the sledge , and guided the dogs . We watched the rapid progress of the traveller with our telescopes , until he was lost among the distant inequalities of the ice .