THE RETURN TO COLD AND DARKNESS. 483 



been enough to allow us to spring up to anything like 

 a normal condition. And we are again called upon to 

 endure cold weather before we have had a decent 

 chance to recover from our last trial. No doubt we 

 shall be able to put in this winter as safely as last winter, 

 so far as our health is concerned, so long as we have the 

 ship as our home. But if we are turned out on the floe 

 by disaster, we shall not be as well able to stand the 

 exposure as we should have been this time a year ago. 



The condition of our living quarters, as far as warmth 

 and dryness go, is all that could be asked, and more 

 than any other experience has shown. Ventilation of 

 the berth deck is fairly secured by our present mode, 

 and, were it not for our lamps, I could say the same of 

 the cabin. Last winter while we had kerosene we had 

 light without smoke, but now we are trying to use 

 Walton's lamps, with oil received from the navy yard, 

 and it is a failure. The oil is poor, does not flow read- 

 ily, and easily chokes the tubes. They cannot always 

 be cleaned, and, in consequence, the light soon grows 

 dim. Turning up the wick makes a tremendous smoke, 

 and turning: it down dims the light too much. We 

 have stood the smoke for a while, but it is too great for 

 a continuance, and we shall have to fall back on maga- 

 zine candles. 



November 6th, Saturday. — Our long night has com- 

 menced. The sun showed above the horizon to-clay for 

 the last time this year, in this latitude, and for ninety 

 days or thereabouts we must be content with our recol- 

 lection of his looks. He struggled up about 11.30, and 

 at noon was about two of his diameters above the hori- 

 zon, and about 12.30 said good-by. Well, as far as 

 his heat in thawing ice went he had been of very little 

 use to us this past summer, and his absence is not de- 



