2i6 THE VOYAGE OF THE 'DISCOVERY' [April 



CHAPTER VIII 



THE POLAR WINTER 



Winter Routine— Obtaining Water — Meals and Meal-hours — Pastimes — 

 Officers' Routine — Debates— Exercise— Work of the Officers— Weather 

 Conditions — Heavy Blizzard and its Effects — Incidents of the Winter — 

 Winter Clothing — Remarks on our Food— Sunday Routine — Discomforts 

 of the Living-quarters from Ice — Heating and Ventilation — Mid-winter 

 Day, 



The cold ice slept below, 

 Above the cold sky shone, 

 And all around 

 With a chilling sound 

 From caves of ice and fields of snow 

 The breath of night like death did flow 



Beneath the sinking moon. — Shelley. 



Long before the sun left us we had settled down into a 

 regular routine of daily life, and although when it was above 

 the horizon the hours of work were modified and generally 

 increased, our meal-hours remained unaltered during the two 

 years which saw us in the grip of the ice. 



The following description of our daily life on board is 

 contained in my diary of the early months of our first winter : 



' The first task of the day is to fetch the ice for the daily 

 consumption of water for cooking, drinking, and washing. In 

 the latter respect we begin to realise that many circumstances 

 are against habits of excessive cleanliness, but although we use 

 water very sparingly, an astonishing amount of washing is done 

 with it, and at present the fashion is for all to have a bath once 

 a week. To fetch the ice in the morning a party of men are 

 roused out somewhat earlier than their comrades, and dressing 



