34 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Oct. 



pervades and embraces all, when the sea ice, the valleys, 

 the hills, the peaks, and the receding glaciers are bathed 

 in the lights and shadows of a revolving full moon. A 

 fairyland of the dreams of childhood! 



None of the earlier expeditions ever thought of at- 

 tempting sledge-work during the darkness of the winter 

 period, regarding it as positively suicidal. Ships were 

 frozen in, housed over, banked deep in snow, and all 

 was made comfortable for the cold months to follow. 

 Lime-juice and grog were issued. Papers were pub- 

 lished. Schools were kept. Daily lessons were as- 

 signed. One hour's exercise was enforced. Theaters 

 were opened. Birthdays were celebrated — everything 

 and anything to divert the mind. Much has been writ- 

 ten of "the monotonous night that drives men mad, 

 of hair turning gray, of steps growing enfeebled follow- 

 ing the departure of the life-giving sun," etc. After 

 five years of Arctic work, and four of these years in suc- 

 cession, I can truthfully say that never for a minute 

 have I missed this "life-giving sun." I never longed for 

 it to return; my health was in no way affected by dark- 

 ness, and monotony was absolutely unknown. As a boy, 

 plunging into the warm waters of Cape Cod, I looked for- 

 ward to the freezing of the pond when I could go skating; 

 so from the kayak of the Arctic summer months I looked 

 forward to the freezing of the great, restless, open sea 

 when I could go sledging. 



The returning Arctic explorer is often asked, "What 

 can you do during the dark period?" Let me enumerate 

 the following subjects in which, if one is thoroughly in- 

 terested, months of profitable time may be expended: 



(1) Photography. Exceptional opportunities are of- 

 fered for securing negatives of the revolving stars. 



