X 



192 VOYAGE TO THE POLAR SEA. November 



to have more flavour than if it had been soaked in 

 water. 



' We are still at work embanking the ship and build- 

 ing houses on deck. 



' 11th. — To-day a course of lectures, with popular 

 readings and songs in character, to last about two hours 

 on each Thursday evening, was commenced. I opened 

 the course by a lecture on astronomy. At the end 

 it was scarcely necessary to remind such a steady 

 thoughtful body of men, that astronomical subjects lead 

 us to consider how God employs the numberless 

 objects around us to contribute to our wants, and how 

 after creating the sun, moon, earth, and stars — " God 

 saw that it was good." 



« 14th. — Misty weather enables us to realize how 

 very dependent we are on shadow, whether cast by the 

 moonlight or sunlight. When shadows are prevented 

 forming, the snow tints are so similar and the lights so 

 blended that there is an anxious uncertainty attending 

 each step, similar to that experienced when walking in 

 the dark, and it is impossible to be sure whether the 

 next step will not lead one straightforward on the level, 

 directly against an obstacle, or headlong over a pre- 

 cipice. In this manner Eawson stepped deliberately into 

 a chasm some ten feet in depth during his last journey. 

 In the evening the mist cleared off; we could then read 

 the newspaper with ease by the light of the full moon. 

 The shadow of the ship showed every rope and spar 

 distinctly on the pure snowy ground. 



' The frost-bitten patients are all going on well, but 

 continuous darkness, or rather lamp-light, is evidently 

 not the best restorative for invalids. 



