Preparations and Equipment. 7 i 



exposed to the cold was protected by three panes of 

 glass one within the other, and in various other ways. 

 One of the greatest difficulties of life on board ship 

 which former Arctic expeditions had had to contend 

 with, was that moisture collecting on the cold outside 

 walls either froze at once or ran down in streams into 

 the berths and on to the floor. Thus it was not unusual 

 to find the mattresses converted into more or less solid 

 masses of ice. We, however, by these arrangements, 

 entirely avoided such an unpleasant state of things, and 

 when the fire was lighted in the saloon there was not a 

 trace of moisture on the walls even in the sleeping cabins. 

 In front of the saloon lay the cook's galley, on either 

 side of which was a companion leading to the deck. 



As a protection against the cold, each of these com- 

 panion-ways was fitted with four small solid doors con- 

 sisting of several layers of wood with felt between, all 

 of which had to be passed through on going out. And 

 the more completely to exclude the cold air the thresholds 

 of the doors were made more than ordinarily high. On 

 the half-deck over the cook's galley, between the main- 

 mast and the funnel, was a chart-room facing the bow. 

 and a smaller work-room abaft. 



In order to secure the safety of the ship in case of a 

 leak, the hold was divided into three compartments by 

 watertight bulkheads. Besides the usual pumps, we had 

 a powerful centrifugal pump driven by the engine, which 

 could be connected with each of the three compartments. 



