Chap. IV. PARRY'S FIRST VOYAGE. 95 



order and cleanliness, as most conducive to the health of the 

 crews, during the long, dark, and dreary winter, equally 

 demanded my attention." — p. 101. 



The housing over the ships was one of the first 

 considerations, being calculated to contribute to the 

 comfort of the officers and men, as well as to the 

 preservation of that extraordinary degree of health, 

 which had hitherto been enjoyed in both ships. 

 Warmth and dryness of the berths and bed-places 

 were the next important matters to be secured, the 

 thermometer having now fallen below zero. An iron 

 box, or air-vessel, with three tubes of two inches 

 diameter communicating from below with the ex- 

 ternal air, and uniting above with a metal box, was 

 so contrived as to convey the heated air to the 

 men's berths ; and this apparatus, Parry says, with 

 a moderate fire, produced a current of air of the 

 temperature of 87° at the distance of seventeen feet 

 from the fire-place. The quantity and quality of 

 provisions were to be regulated, having regard to the 

 preservation of health. An anti-scorbutic beer had 

 been issued in lieu of a proportion of spirits ; but 

 when the weather became extremely severe, the 

 beer would not ferment so as to make it palatable. 

 Every attention was paid to the issuing of fuel, to 

 the article of proper clothing, and to the nature of 

 the provisions and little luxuries to be distributed. 

 In short, the able and careful manner in which 

 every article of ships' stores appears to have been 



