70 Chapter II. 



The propellers, of which we had two in reserve, were 

 two-bladed, and made of cast-iron ; but we never used 

 either the spare propellers or a spare rudder which we 

 had with us. 



Our quarters lay, as before mentioned, abaft under the 

 half-deck, and were arranged so that the saloon, which 

 formed our dining-room and drawing-room, was in the 

 middle, surrounded on all sides by the sleeping-cabins. 

 These consisted of four state-rooms with one berth apiece 

 and two with four berths. The object of this arrange- 

 ment was to protect the saloon from external cold ; but 

 further, the ceiling, floors and walls were covered with 

 several thick coatings of non-conducting material, the 

 surface layer, in touch with the heat of the cabin, con- 

 sisting of air-tight linoleum, to prevent the warm, damp 

 air from penetrating to the other side and depositing 

 moisture, which would soon turn to ice. The sides of 

 the ship were lined with tarred felt, then came a space 

 with cork padding, next a deal panelling, then a thick 

 layer of felt, next air-tight linoleum, and last of all an 

 inner panelling. The ceiling of the saloon and cabins 

 consisted of many different layers : air, felt, deal panelling, 

 reindeer hair stuffing, deal panelling, linoleum, air and 

 deal panelling, which, with the 4-inch deck-planks, gave 

 a total thickness of about 15 inches. To form the floor 

 of the saloon, cork padding, 6 or 7 inches thick, was laid 

 on the deck planks, on this a thick wooden floor, and 

 above all linoleum. The skylight which was most 



