CRUISE OF STEAMER CORWIN IN THE ARCTIC OCEAN. 1] 
on the army ration. He regards the symptoms to arise from inanition, and as the ones that usually 
precede an outbreak of scurvy. 
A few cases of return of intermittent fever brought about by wet and fatigue, and of rheuma- 
tism—which seemed to be the prevailing ailment—the usual quota of headaches, constipation, and 
colic, with several cases of minor surgery, and a few cases of venereal contracted at Ounalaska, 
make up the sick-list so far as the crew proper is concerned. 
It may not be foreign to the subject to remark that the sanitary condition of the Corwin, and 
indeed of other vessels in the revenue service, might be greatly improved by covering the berth-deck 
with a coating of shellac; and better ventilation might be secured by an arrangement similar to 
that found on the latest English naval vessels, where a tlie passes up through the side of the ship 
until it opens just beneath the hammock-rail on the inside of the bulwarks, and is covered with a 
Venetian blind. Further advantage, especially in the way of lightmg, would result from larger 
air-ports having a glass, convex externally aud prismoidal on its inner surface, in order to facilitate 
the dispersion of light when the port is closed. The galley situated on the berth-deck of the 
Corwin was the source of excessive condensation and drip, which was always increased in the 
morning by shutting a small skylight when washing down decks; a proceeding seemingly incon- 
sistent with enlightened common sense, especially when the decks have been wet the whole 
previous twenty-four hours from rain or the seas washing over them. The nuisance was ina 
measure abated by wiping the beams overhead and lighting a fire ina drying stove. 
The facilities for warming were good throughout the ship, and the water supply was perhaps 
better than usual, owing to the fact that the wate? in the Arctic contains but a small percentage 
of organic or earthy impurities. At Ounalaska water was obtained from a small reservoir in an 
adjacent hill, but it had an unpleasant earthy taste. Better water was had at Saint Michael’s 
Here a spring wells up amid some rocks on the sea beach, and at low tide water may be obtained 
with great facility. Good water was procured nearly everywhere in the Aretic, notably at 
Chamisso Island and Choris Peninsula, and it was of unusnal excellence at Cape Thompson, 
also at Herald and Wrangel Islands. Distilled water, supplied by the engineers, was occasionally 
used during the cruise, but as it was condensed from the main boiler without filtration it had 
that peculiar nauseating, oily flavor which rendered it unfit for potable purposes. 
The articles of food, consisting of the regular rations, to which had been added pemmican and 
the usual antiscorbutics, such as potatoes, desiccated onions, sauerkraut, and cranberries, were of 
good quality and kept remarkably well, some butter in barrels being as good on our return as on 
the day we left. Frequent opportunities also occurred to get fish and game, the ration being varied 
from time to time with salmon and coregonus, auks, eider-ducks, geese, eggs (of which great quan- 
tities were found on the Diomede Islands), seal, bear, and reindeer. These supplementary articles 
proved not only an appetizing change from the regular ration, but their use was followed by a sense 
of well-being and by improved nutrition. 
The ordinary clothing was supplemented with a hooded coat of reindeer skin, seal skin trousers, 
and a foot covering similar to that worn by the Eskimo. Over an ordinary pair of stockings were 
drawn a pair of reindeer socks, with the hair turned in, the foot being next thrust into an Eskimo 
boot of seal skin, into the bottom of which a small quantity of straw was placed as a non-conductor, 
and the whole secured by thongs after the manner of a sandal. ‘This rig answered the purposes 
of warmth and comfort; but the effeet was anything but picturesque, as the foot resembled a 
disabled extremity that some bungling hospital nurse had endeavored to inclose in a poultice. 
Beyond the meteorological swumary obtained from the signal station at Saint Michael’s, there 
are no extended weather observations to report in regard to any fixed geographical point, for the 
reason that the ship seldom remained longer than a few days at a time in any one place, and it was 
impossible to get any definite information from the natives, whose knowledge in this respect does 
not extend beyond noticing whether the suowfall is great or little during the winter. 
As regards the weather during the past season there is a marked contrast when compared to 
that experienced on the Corwin’s former voyage. The sea was freer from ice, a fact doubtless 
owing to the preceding mild winter and other concurrent causes, but the number of fine days was 
comparatively few, and a series of gales and snow-storms continued throughout the summer. Even 
as late as July 1S the decks were coyered with snow and hail, and a bitter cold wind penetrated 
