i 9 o 3 ] SLEDGING PREPARATIONS 147 



same time another instrument, the sunshine recorder, gave its 

 first sign of life. The sunshine recorder consists of a crystal 

 sphere, by which the sun rays are focussed on a circular strip 

 of graduated paper ; when the sun is out, the track of the focus 

 is marked by a burnt line, and in this way the hours during 

 which the sun shows are recorded. Last year we got several 

 papers burnt for the complete'twenty-four hours, and doubtless 

 we shall get the same again ; I believe this is the first time such 

 a record has been got.' 



Such extracts as I have given from my diary show that our 

 second winter passed away in the quietest and pleasantest 

 fashion. Throughout the season the routine of scientific 

 observations was carried out in the same manner as it had 

 been during the previous year, whilst many new details of 

 interest were added. The weather on the whole, though 

 colder, had been far less windy, and this, together with the help 

 which experience gave to our methods of living, had greatly 

 added to our comfort. Whilst everything was taken calmly 

 and easily, the work of preparation for the coming season had 

 been steadily pushed forward. An examination of our sledge 

 equipment showed that there was scarcely an article which 

 did not need to be thoroughly overhauled and refitted, and 

 throughout the winter our men had been systematically em- 

 ployed in repairing the sledges, sleeping-bags, tents, &c, in 

 weighing out and packing the various provisions, and generally 

 in preparing for the long journeys which had been arranged. 

 With our best efforts, however, it was evident that our outfit 

 for this seasoa would be a somewhat tattered and makeshift 

 affair compared with what it had been at the commencement 

 of the last. For our sleeping-bags we were obliged to employ 

 skins that we knew to be of inferior quality ; our tents were 

 blackened with use, threadbare in texture, and patched in 

 many places ; our cooking-apparatus were dented and shaky ; 

 our wind clothes were almost worn out ; and for all the small 

 bags which were required for our provisions we were obliged 

 to fall back on such sheets and tablecloths as could be scraped 

 together. 



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