PREPARATIONS FOR WINTERING. 331 



real winter, with cold, storm, and snow, would overtake 

 us. Our first duty was tlie ship^s safety and preparations 

 for passing the winter. 



Orders were then given that all the ship's crew should 

 once more enjoy the sweet water from the neighboiu-ing 

 brook, as we wished to avoid as long as possible the use 

 of melted snow. In spite of the difficulty of fetching 

 water in the boat, we had just finished in time ; as on 

 the 17th the earth was frozen on the surface, and the 

 streams showed but little water, and in the course of a 

 day or two ceased running altogether. 



And now ever more menacingly did the harbinger of 

 wdnter warn us. Boreas, with his sudden and violent 

 rising, and the heavy squalls under Pendulum Island, 

 which we soon learnt to know, burst no fewer than three 

 times over the ship this week. On the 16th the storm 

 was so strong that we had to drop the second anchor. 



The next day was again a fine, still autumn day. On 

 the 18th the almost inch-thick covering of ice burst into 

 several floes, so that we were able to tow our ship fm*ther 

 into the harbour. 



That evening and night we had another storm from 

 the north, which, however, did no harm to the ship, but 

 broke up all the ice afresh and drifted it away, so that 

 the Germania was once more free in the water ; but it 

 was for the last time. 



The coming Sunday broke still and clear, though the 

 temperature even at noon was not above 19° Fahr. rising 

 to 46°. A new icy covering formed, increasing in thick- 

 ness so quickly that in the night of the 20th and 21st, 

 the rising storm in the creek, with its hurricane gusts, 

 could not break it. All possibility of going out with the 



