THE WHITE WORLD 



sets in — a sort of warm electric glow which raises the mind 

 to the seventh heaven of happiness. Ah! these are the 

 moments for which polar men will gladly shiver for weeks. 

 Then it is that they lie down and dream of happy homes, 

 sweethearts and friends far away. After a time, the lonely 

 mortal upon whom the lot has fallen to prepare the tea, 

 brings over a condensed-milk can full of steaming stuff. 

 It is feeble, but it is hot, and anything hot is a godsend. 

 Little things, like cups and saucers, knives, spoons and 

 table linen, do not trouble the explorer. Nor does he ever 

 think of washing dishes. The cook then kicks up some 

 bits of ice as a pillow, and stores the clothing under the 

 bag to keep it from being blown away, after which he drops 

 out of his garments, shivers, and pushes into the center 

 like a wedge between the other two. He has a distinct 

 advantage over the two first bag tenants, because he gets 

 the warmth of the others, who are by this time in a fever 

 heat of happiness. In a very short time all are sleeping the 

 sleep of the just in a lonely wilderness of ice, and then 

 what care they for the cruel outside world? There is no 

 noise except the metallic crackling of the snow under the 

 bag, the snore of the companions, and the steady blow of 

 the wind as is brushes the bag. 



Their sleep is frequently disturbed by the " turning pro- 

 cess." The position of each bag tenant is like that of a 

 sardine in a box. The snow soon closes in around the bag 

 in such a manner that any unusual room is obliterated by 

 the pressure from without. To turn, then, is a task which 

 requires a unison of action. It is curiously easy, however, 

 to bring about simultaneous movement, even among sleep- 

 ing men. The signal is usually given by one of the side 

 men, who turns, bringing his elbows against the ribs of the 

 middle man. The middle man, in his first experience, 

 wakes up and rams his other companion a double blow. 

 The third man also wakes up, turns, and the process is over 

 until the next turning period. After a few nights, this 

 turning is done simultaneously by all hands without wak- 

 ing up. 



It is the universal opinion' that polar explorers suffer 

 mostly by reason of the intense cold, and that success or 

 failure is due to the powers of enduring low temperatures, 



T40 



