292 ARCTIC VOYAGES. Chap. IX. 



camlet, lined with racoon-skin, and the latter of strong 

 blue box-cloth. "We made a point of always 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 instances, at the most, that they were not either 

 still wet or hard frozen. This, indeed, was of no conse- 

 quence, beyond the discomfort of first putting them on in 

 this state, as they w r ere 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 break- 

 fasted upon warm cocoa and biscuit, and after stowing the 

 things in the boats and on the sledges, so as to secure them, 

 as much as possible, from wet, we set off on our day's jour- 

 ney, 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 pos- 

 sible. 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 

 serving 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 D or 

 15°. This part of the twenty- four hours was often a time, 

 and the only one, of real enjoyment to us ; the men told 



