I902] LIGHTING ARRANGEMENTS ON BOARD 259 



the expenditure of space and trouble in bringing it to its final 

 home. It is here now, however, and here it will stand for 

 many a long year with such supplies as will afford the neces- 

 saries of life to any less fortunate party who may follow in our 

 footsteps and be forced to search for food and shelter. 



' Beyond the large hut stand the smaller magnetic huts, and 

 from the eminence on that point the little cluster of buildings 

 looks quite imposing. In the midst of these vast ice-solitudes 

 and under the frowning desolation of the hills, the ship, the 

 huts, the busy figures passing to and fro, and the various other 

 evidences of human activity are extraordinarily impressive. 

 How strange it all seems ! For countless ages the great 

 sombre mountains about us have loomed through the gloomy 

 polar night with never an eye to mark their grandeur, and for 

 countless ages the wind-swept snow has drifted over these 

 great deserts with never a footprint to break its white surface ; 

 for one brief moment the eternal solitude is broken by a hive 

 of human insects ; for one brief moment they settle, eat, sleep, 

 trample, and gaze, then they must be gone, and all must be 

 surrendered again to the desolation of the ages.' 



"■ July \<^. — . . . One of the most important considerations 

 for our comfort during the polar night is the manner of lighting 

 the ship. The breakdown of the windmill was a blow, as a 

 supply of electric light would have been the greatest boon ; 

 but, luckily, we never over-estimated the possibility of success 

 in this respect, and the breakdown found us amply supplied 

 with alternative means. From the first, paraffin suggested 

 itself as the most suitable illuminant for our purpose, and from 

 the first also it had been decided to use this oil as fuel during 

 our sledge journeys. On the other hand, paraffin is not a 

 desirable oil to carry in a ship in any quantity, and in our case 

 it was rendered less desirable by the fact that we had to take 

 it at a low flash-point in order that it might remain liquid at 

 the lowest temperatures. The flash-point of our oil is 105^^, it 

 begins to turn milky when the thermometer falls below —40°, 

 and we have not yet experienced a temperature in which it will 

 not flow freely. 



