3G0 THE VOYAGE OF THE VEGA. [chap. 



by a more or less complete snowblindness, which indeed is not 

 very dangerous, but is always exceedingly painful, and whicli 

 lasts several days. 



On board the vessel in our cabins and collection-rooms it was 

 besides by no means so cold as many would suppose. The sides 

 of the vessel in several places indeed, especially in the cabins, 

 were covered with a thick sheet of ice, and so was the skylight in 

 the gun-room. But in the inhabited parts of the vessel we had, a 

 little from the sides, commonly a temperature of + 12° to +17°, that 

 is to say about the same as we in the north are wont to have in- 

 doors in winter, and certainly higher than the temperature of rooms 

 daring the coldest days of the year in many cities in the south, 

 as for instance in Paris and Vienna. By night however the 

 temperature in the cabins sank sometimes to + 5° and + 10°, and 

 the boarding at the side of the berth became covered with ice. 

 In the work-room 'tweendecks the thermometer generally stood 

 abovit + 10°, and even in the underhold, which was not heated, 

 but lay under the water-line, the temperature was never under, 

 commonly 1° or 2° above, the freezing-point. 



Much greater inconvenience than from cold did we in the 

 cabins suffer from the excessive heat and the fumes, which 

 firinsf in large cast-iron stoves is wont to cause in small close rooms. 

 When in the morning after a cold night the watch all too willingly 

 obeyed the direction, which sounded from different quarters, to fire 

 well, one had often his wish so thoroughly satisfied, that, in half an 

 hour after, every man lay bathed in perspiration. There was no 

 other help for it than to leave the cabin, take a cold bath and 

 a good rub down, dress rapidly, rush on deck for fresh air, 

 and cool in the temperature of —30° to —40° prevailing there. 

 Other opportunities for bathing were also given both to the officers 

 and crew, and the necessary care was taken to secure cleanliness, 

 a sanitary measure which ought never to be neglected in Arctic 

 winterings. 



The state of health on board during the course of the winter 

 w^as exceedingly good. Dr. Almquist's report enumerates only 

 a few serious maladies, all sviccessfully cured, among which may 

 be mentioned stomach colds and slight cases of inflammation of 

 the lungs, but not a single case of that insidious disease, scurvy, 

 which formerly raged in such a frightful way among the crews 

 in all long voyages, and which is still wont to gather so many 

 victims from among Polar travellers. 



This good state of health depended in the first place on the 

 excellent spirit which inspired the scientific men, the officers 

 and the crew of the Expedition, but it ought also to be ascribed 

 to the suitable equipment of the Vega, arranged by Captain 

 Palander at Karlskrona, and above all to adjustment to the 



