There was hardly any snow on the hard granular surface of the old floes, and the sapphire blue lakes were larger than ever.

The temperature had risen to minus 15 deg., which, reducing the friction of the sledges, gave the dogs the appearance of having caught the high spirits of the party.

Some of them even tossed their heads and barked and yelped as they traveled.
Notwithstanding the grayness of the day, and the melancholy aspect of the surrounding world, by some strange shift of feeling the fear of the leads had fallen from me completely.

I now felt that success was certain, and, notwithstanding the physical exhaustion of the forced marches of the last five days, I went tirelessly on and on, the Eskimos following almost automatically, though I knew that they must feel the weariness which my excited brain made me incapable of feeling.
When we had covered, as I estimated, a good fifteen miles, we halted, made tea, ate lunch, and rested the dogs.

Then we went on for another estimated fifteen miles.