to reach the North Pole in 1827. 365 



j^oing but little variation. This travelling by night, and sleeping by day, so 

 completely inrerted the natural order of things, that it was difficult to per- 

 suade ourselves of the reality. Even the officers and myself, who were all 

 furnished with pocket chronometers, could not always bear in mind at what 

 part of the twenty-four hours we had arrived ; and there were several of the 

 men who declared, and I believe truly, that they never knew night from day 

 during the whole excursion. When we rose in the evening, we commenced 

 our day by prayers, after which, we took off our fur sleeping-dresses, and 

 put on those for travelling ; the former being made of camblet, lined with ra- 

 coon-skin, and the latter of strong blue box-cloth. We made a point of al- 

 ways putting on the same stockings and boots for travelling in, whether they 

 had dried during the day or not ; and I believe it was only in five or six in- 

 stances, at the most, that they werfe not either still wet or hard-frozen. This, 

 indeed, was of no consequence, beyond the discomfort of first putting them 

 on in this state, as they were sure to be thoroughly wet in a quarter of an 

 hour after commencing our journey ; while, on the other hand, it was of vital 

 importance to keep dry things for sleeping in. Being ' rigged * for travelling, 

 we breakfasted upon warm cocoa and biscuit, and after stowing the things in 

 the boats and on sledges, so as to secure them as much as possible from wet, 

 we set off on our day's journey, and usually travelled from five to five and a 

 half hours, then stopped an hour to dine, and again travelled four, five, or 

 even six hours, according to circumstances. After this we halted for the 

 night, as we called it, though it was usually early in the morning, selecting 

 the largest surface of ice we happened to be near for hauling the boats on, in 

 order to avoid the danger of its breaking up, by coming in contact with other 

 masses, and also to prevent drift as much as possible. The boats were placed 

 close alongside each other, with their sterns to the wind, the snow or wet 

 cleared out of them, and the sails, supported by the bamboo masts and three 

 paddles, placed over them as awnings, an entrance being left at the bow. 

 Every man then immediately put on dry stockings and fur boots, after which 

 we set about the necessary repairs of boats, sledges, or clothes ; and, after ser- 

 ving the provisions for the succeeding day, we went to supper. Most of the 

 officers and men then smoked their pipes, which served to dry the boats and 

 awnings very much, and usually raised the temperature of our lodgings 10 or 

 15 degrees. This part of the twenty -four hours was often a time, and the on- 

 ly one, of real enjoyment to us ; the men told their stories, and * fought all 

 their battles o'er again,' and the labours of the day, unsuccessful as they too 

 often were, were forgotten. A regular watch was set during our resting-time, 

 to look out for bears, or for the ice breaking up around us, us well as lo attend ^ 

 to the drying of the clothes, each man alternately taking his duty for one ' 

 hour. We then concluded our day with prayers, and having put on our fur 

 dresses, lay down to sleep, with a degree of comfort which perhaps few per- 

 sons would imagine possible under such circumstances ; our chief inconve- 

 nience being, that we were somewhat pinched for room, and therefore obliged 

 to stow rather closer than was quite agreeable. The temjKjrature, while we 

 slept, was usually from 36° to 45°, according to the state of the external at- 

 mosphere ; but on one or two occasions, in cabn and warm weather, it rose as 

 high as 60* to 66% obliging us to throw oft* a jiart of our fur dress. After we 



