Good-by to England! Good-by to inhabited and civilized regions of the earth! Two years have passed since the voyagers sailed from their native shores.

The enterprise has failed--the Arctic expedition is lost and ice-locked in the Polar wastes.

The good ships _Wanderer_ and _Sea-mew_, entombed in ice, will never ride the buoyant waters more.

Stripped of their lighter timbers, both vessels have been used for the construction of huts, erected on the nearest land.
The largest of the two buildings which now shelter the lost men is occupied by the surviving officers and crew of the _Sea-mew_.

On one side of the principal room are the sleeping berths and the fire-place.
The other side discloses a broad doorway (closed by a canvas screen), which serves as a means of communication with an inner apartment, devoted to the superior officers.