506 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. 



being favored with very light southerly airs we are able 

 to go about without much discomfort. One's feet seem 

 to be the most vulnerable, particularly if standing still 

 for any time. In spite of fur stockings and seal moc- 

 casins, the heat is drawn out rapidly and wasted on the 

 ice beneath. As is usual with cold weather, we have 

 considerable auroral display. But as these displays are 

 carefully recorded in the meteorological log, I do not 

 care to repeat them here. 



January 22d, Saturday. — Position : latitude 74° 8' 

 N., longitude 173° 26' W. 



January 23d, Sunday. — A bright, pleasant day, but 

 intensely cold (minus 47°). Light southerly and S. W. 

 airs make outside walking tolerable, and for a short time 

 even very pleasant, but the heat seems to gush out from 

 one's nose and feet and bring one back to the realiza- 

 tion that it is a winter's day. Towards bedtime Mr. 

 Dunbar, on entering the cabin, announces in a grave 

 tone that he " thinks there will be frost to-night," and 

 after some consideration we all agree with him. Possi- 

 bly people in New York are feeling cold at plus 32° 

 (only 79° warmer than we are having it), — a tempera- 

 ture which used to remind us of the tropics last sum- 

 mer, and led to a search for straw hats. However, as 

 philosophy considers no such thing as cold, but charac- 

 terizes that phenomenon as a less degree of heat, we 

 may merely consider our climate as not so warm as that 

 of New York. I never think of phenomenon without 

 being reminded of Melville's story of the Scotchman, 

 who defined a phenomenon to his son Jamie as follows : 

 " Gin you see a coo, Jamie, that 's no a phenomenon ; 

 and gin you see a tree, that 's no a phenomenon ; but 

 gin you see a coo climbing a tree backwards, that 's a 

 phenomenon, Jamie, that 's a phenomenon." 



