THE INTERIOR 45 



officer. This position was by no means a catch, for in the 

 tropics when steam was up it had the doubtful benefit of the 

 heat given off by the boilers, whereas in the Polar winter, when 

 we had no steam, the engine-room naturally became the coldest 

 place in the ship, and the after-cabin suffered accordingly. 

 The crew-space was a little shorter than the wardroom, but as 

 it extended the full breadth of the ship it was larger ; compared 

 with other vessels it gave ample room for its occupants. The 

 galley-space was narrowed by having compartments cut off on 

 each side ; however, it was quite big enough for our require- 

 ments. Between the fore-end of the galley-space and the after- 

 end of my cabin were comprised the living-spaces, and the ship 

 was designed so that this part might be kept especially warm 

 in a Polar cHmate. Concerning our advantages and difficulties 

 in this respect I shall speak more fully in the course of my 

 story, but whilst the plan of the ship is under discussion, it 

 may be as well to point out how we were situated. Naturally, 

 if one wants to keep warm one must exclude the cold on every 

 side. During our Polar winters, owing to the insulation of the 

 upper deck, and to the fact that we piled snow on top of it, we 

 had nothing to fear from that direction. As regards the sides, 

 we had small difficulties which I shall mention, but the fact 

 that cold might creep up from beneath was overlooked in 

 providing for the comfort of our living-spaces. 



It will be seen that beneath the men's quarters were the 

 provision-rooms and holds ; these, owing to the temperature of 

 the sea outside and the space above, never fell much below 

 freezing point, and so the men suffered little discomfort from 

 below, but the coal-space or bunker under the wardroom was 

 a different matter. This was only shut off from the engine- 

 room by a steel bulkhead, and consequently it became 

 extremely cold and communicated its temperature to the 

 wardroom. This difficulty would not have arisen had the 

 decks of the living-spaces been thoroughly well insulated. 



Daylight was admitted to the living-spaces through central 

 skylights and small round decklights. There were no portholes 

 or sidelights in the ' Discovery.' 



