338 • THE GERMAN ARCTIC EXPEDITION. 



SO we covered it, both out and inside, except in the 

 brightest hours of the day ; and in order that we might 

 enjoy the light as long as possible, the back part of the 

 tent roof on the forepart of the ship was always rolled 

 back until the 9th of October, when lamps were burnt 

 all day long. Our stove proved excellent. While outside 

 the temperature stood at from 0° to 4° Fahr., in the cabin 

 we were able to keep up an agreeable warmth with about 

 ten pounds of coal. 



But, besides the cold, the European wintering in the 

 North has another enemy awaiting him, which often 

 brings on illness ; this enemy is the damp. The wateri- 

 ness of the atmosphere, rising from all parts,, penetrates 

 into the rooms, settling naturally upon every relatively 

 cold object. These are particularly the walls and ceiling 

 of the cabin. And even with continual airing we did 

 not succeed in keeping the damp really out of the cabin. 

 In order, therefore, to accomplish this, we bored large 

 holes, after Ross's example, of two inches diameter 

 through the deck, turning over it a large hollow iron 

 vessel covered with snow, on the very cold inner surface 

 of which the watery contents of the atmosphere soon 

 condensed, forming a crust of ice, which was 'removed 

 from time to time. Two of these condensers we placed 

 over the cabin, two over the forecastle, and one over the 

 captain's cabin. 



In the forecastle, as may be supposed, no further heat- 

 ing was necessary than that caused by the daily cooking 

 in the caboose. Indeed, at meal- time the heat was so 

 great that the door had to be opened and the condensing 

 holes left uncovered for a long time ; by these means the 

 damp was more easily got rid of. 



