1876 CONTRACTION OF ICE. 229 



4 Throughout the winter the frozen condensation 

 which collects as ice in the upper part of each entrance 

 hatchway has had to be removed weekly with sharp 

 scrapers. Although my cabin is perfectly dry, and 

 the temperature ranges between 40° and 60°, an iron 

 bolt which extends through the ship's side conducts the 

 cold so readily that moisture has collected on the end 

 of it, forming a projecting round head of solid ice, 

 like the head of a boiler rivet upwards of an inch in 

 depth. Spero Capato, my steward, removed it daily 

 for several weeks, but he has now become reconciled to 

 its presence. 



1 Owing to misty weather the occupation of Mars 

 was lost. 



1 Our nearest friendly, or perhaps unfriendly, floe- 

 berg has rolled over towards the ship, proving that 

 the inshore ice is still contracting with the colder 

 weather, and that there is no offshore motion in the 

 floebergs. The cracks in the floe are also more open 

 than before. In consequence of the movement of our 

 neighbour, the snow embankment has fallen away 

 from the starboard side of the ship and will require a 

 considerable amount of labour to repair it, 



' The moon will be above both horizons to-morrow, 

 so although the sun will not return for another month, 

 we consider our dark period at an end. On the 

 moon leaving us in a fortnight's time we shall have 

 sufficient twilight to enable us to read small print for 

 Upwards of three hours daily when outside of the ship. 

 During the last few days we have each been straining 

 our eyes to try and read ordinary print. The near- 

 sighted men have a great advantage over the others. 



