X.] METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 357 



motion by the least puff of wind, and then in a few moments 

 completely obliterated every footprint. When the moon did not 

 shine, the winter nights were so dark, that it was impossible to 

 distinguish the very nearest objects, and day after day during the 

 course of the winter we had, besides, drifting snow so thick that 

 the hio^h dark hull of the vessel itself could be distinguished 



..... ^ 



only when one was in its immediate neighbourhood ! In walk- 

 ing from land during the darkness of the night and in drifting 

 snow it would have been very difficult to find one's way to the 

 vessel without guidance, and he would have been helplessly lost 

 who Avent astray. To prevent such an accident, the precaution 

 was taken of running a line over high ice-pillars between the 

 Observatory and the vessel. Even with the help of the guide- 

 line it was often difficult enough to find our way. 



The attempt to keep open a channel in the ice round the 

 vessel during the whole winter had soon to be given up, but two 

 holes were kept constantly open, one by the side of the vessel in 

 case of fire, and the other for the tidal observations which 

 Captain Palander set on foot during the winter. The latter 

 hole was chosen by a little seal as its haunt for a long time, 

 until one day we entertained ourselves by catching him with 

 the necessary care, and making him pay an involuntary visit on 

 board, where he was offered various delicacies, which however 

 were disresrarded. The seal was let loose ao^ain in his hole, but 

 notwithstanding the friendliness we showed him, he never more 

 returned. 



From the meteorological observations it appears that the win- 

 ter was not so cold as the winters in the Franklin archipelago 

 or in the coldest parts of the mainland of Siberia.^ On the 

 other hand, it was exceedingly stormy at the Vega's winter 

 station, and day after day, night after night, we have gone to 

 and from the Observatory in a high wind and a cold of — 30° 

 to — 4G° C. In calm weather a cold of — 40° is scarcely very 

 troublesome, but with only a slight draught a degree of cold of 

 for instance —35° is actually dangerous for one who goes against 

 the wind, and without the necessary precautions exposes unco- 

 vered parts of the face, the hands, or the wrists, to the cold current 

 of air. Without one's being warned by any severe pain frostbite 

 arises, which, if it be not in time thawed by rubbing the injured 

 part with the hand, or with melting snow, may readily become 

 very serious. Most of those who for the first time took part 



^ According to H. Wild's newly-publislied large work, "Die Temperatur 

 Verh>iltiiii<se des Ruttsischen Jieiches, 2e Halfte, St. Petersburg, 1881," the 

 Old World's cold-[)ole lies in the neighbourhood of the town Werchojansk 

 (67° 34' X.L. 133'"' 51' E.L. from Greenwich). The mean tenijjerature of the 

 different months and of the whole year is given in the note at page 411. If 

 the data on which these figures rest are correct, the winter at Werchojansk 

 is immensely colder than at the Vegas winter station. 



