158 THE HOUSE ON DECK. 



have thirty-four tons on board, and have but two fires 

 Two and a half buckets full a day go to the galley 

 stove in the hold, and one and a half to the cabin ; 

 and with this consumption of fuel the people live in 

 comfort and cook their food and melt from the ice an 

 abundant supply of water. The ice, which is of the 

 clearest and purest kind, comes from a little berg 

 which is frozen up in the mouth of the harbor, about 

 half a mile away. I have no stove in my own cabin, 

 all the heat which I require coming to me across the 

 companion-way through the slats of my door, from 

 the officers' stove. The temperature in which I live 

 ranges from 40° to 60°, and, among my furs, I lounge 

 through the hours that I do not spend out of doors 

 as snug and comfortable as I could wish to be. Some- 

 thing of my comfort is, however, due to the excess of 

 heat of the officers' quarters. The temperature of 

 their cabin runs sometimes to 75°, and is seldom lower 

 than 60°, and they are at times actually sweltering. 

 Our quarters are throughout free from dampness, 

 and are well ventilated. A portion of the main-hatch 

 above the men's quarters is always open, and the com- 

 panion-scuttle is seldom closed. This ventilation being 

 through the house on deck, that apartment is kept at 

 quite a comfortable degree of warmth ; and it is a 

 very convenient medium between the lower deck and 

 the outer air. In this house such work is performed 

 as cannot be done below ; and there, in the dim light 

 of the signal-lamp, which hangs suspended from the 

 main-boom, one may see almost at any time a motley 

 group of men working or playing, as the case may be. 

 Forward in one corner stands Hans's tent, through 

 the slits in which come the cheerful glimmer of a 

 lamp and the lullaby of an Esquimau mother, sooth- 



