

1875 DAILY OCCURRENCES DURING WINTER. 185 



water from the cold temperature. The temperature of 

 the snow-house being twenty degrees warmer than the 

 outside air, the layer of ice newly frozen each day was 

 considerably reduced in thickness. 



The fire-hole was left open in case the pumps should 

 become frozen ; but as the supply valve was situated 

 below the water-line, they remained free from ice and 

 serviceable throughout the winter; the fire-hole was 

 therefore really useless except for making tidal obser- 

 vations. 



For the daily occurrences throughout the winter it 

 will be more convenient to quote from my journal : — 



' 22nd. — The young ice is nineteen inches thick. Ten 

 of these are due to increase on the upper surface from 

 frozen sludge. On the 1st of this month the ice was eight 

 inches thick ; therefore the increase by freezing below 

 the surface, when the ice was protected by snow, has 

 been only one inch against ten inches of increase up- 

 wards. 



' 2ord. — The temperature rising from minus 25° to 

 minus 10°, with calm weather, the air is so sensibly 

 warm that the crew are able to work on the ice with 

 their hands uncovered. Some officers building a 

 snow observatory worked without their outer coats and 

 with merely ordinary black silk handkerchiefs round 

 their necks for two hours without feeling cold. 



6 24dh. — Last night the tide-pole becoming frozen 

 to the ice was lifted off the bottom by the rise of the 

 tide. The observations will be now discontinued until 

 another register is fitted in the fire-hole. 



' 26th. — A perfectly calm morning. The magnifi- 

 cently clear weather we have experienced for the last 



