9 P.M.
It is curious to think that at the present moment there is probably no human being nearer to us than the Danish settlements in the south of Greenland -- a good nine hundred miles as the crow flies . A captain takes a great responsibility upon himself when he risks his vessel under such circumstances . No whaler has ever remained in these latitudes till so advanced a period of the year . 9 P.M. -- I have spoken to Captain Craigie , and though the result has been hardly satisfactory , I am bound to say that he listened to what I had to say very quietly and even deferentially . When I had finished he put on that air of iron determination which I have frequently observed upon his face , and paced rapidly backwards and forwards across the narrow cabin for some minutes . At first I feared that I had seriously offended him , but he dispelled the idea by sitting down again , and putting his hand upon my arm with a gesture which almost amounted to a caress . There was a depth of tenderness too in his wild dark eyes which surprised me considerably .