352 Chapter VI. 



"What exaggerated reports of the Arctic cold are in 

 circulation ! It was cold in Greenland, and it is not 

 milder here; the general day temperature just now is about 

 40 F. and 43 F. below zero. I was clothed yesterday 

 as usual as regards the lea's drawers, knickerbockers, 



o o 7 



stockings, frieze leggings, snow - socks, and moccasins ; 

 my body covering consisted of an ordinary shirt, a wolf- 

 skin cape, and a sealskin jacket, and I sweated like a 

 horse. To-day I sat still, driving with only thin ducks 

 above my ordinary leg wear, and on my body woollen 

 shirt, vest, Iceland woollen jersey, a frieze coat, and a 

 sealskin one. I found the temperature quite pleasant, 

 and even perspired a little to-day, too. Both yesterday 

 and to-day I had a red flannel mask on my face, but 

 it made me too warm, and I had to take it off, though 

 there was a bitter breeze from the north. That north 

 wind is still persistent, sometimes with a velocity of 9 

 or even 13 feet, but yet we do not seem to be drifting 

 south ; we lie in 80 N. lat., or even a few minutes 

 farther north. What can be the reason of this ? There 

 is a little pressure every day just now. Curious that it 

 should again occur at the moon's change of quarter. 

 The moon stands high in the sky, and there is daylight 

 now, too. Soon the sun will be making his appearance, 

 and when he does we shall hold high festival. 



'Friday, February i6th. Hurrah! A meridian 

 observation to-day shows 80 i' N. lat., so that we have 

 come a few minutes north since last Friday, and that in 



