eleven in the morning
Here was no open water nor jammed ice . For thirty miles or more the snow lay level as a table ; withal it lay three feet deep and was soft as flour . Three miles an hour was the best they could make , but Daylight celebrated the passing of the Fifty Mile by traveling late . At eleven in the morning they emerged at the foot of the lake . At three in the afternoon , as the Arctic night closed down , he caught his first sight of the head of the lake , and with the first stars took his bearings . At eight in the evening they left the lake behind and entered the mouth of the Lewes River . Here a halt of half an hour was made , while chunks of frozen boiled beans were thawed and the dogs were given an extra ration of fish .