656 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



I hurried outside, and, sure enough, the spirit had deserted the 

 tube, and lay inclosed in the bulb that is, it was lower than 62 

 F. It was startling, but there was no getting round the fact. 

 The news spread through the camp, and the men came crowding 

 round to see the unusual phenomenon. One man ventured the 

 opinion that we had got to the north pole by mistake, but they 

 looked upon it more as a joke than anything else, and were per- 

 fectly satisfied, because it meant a holiday. Mr. Abrey had made 

 the rule that when the thermometer went below 30 F., we would 

 not go on the line. We afterward came to the conclusion that 

 there was nothing to prevent our working at much lower tem- 

 peratures, but the rule once established it was impossible to alter 

 it without creating discontent among the men. I went out that 

 day two miles from camp on snowshoes, just to see how it would 

 go, and, although it was cold at starting, I was warm enough be- 

 fore I got back. 



The next night the thermometer.went down to 58 F.,and the 

 third night to 61 F. Now, according to all precedent, we should 

 have spent those three nights cowering with quaking hearts over 

 the stoves, and using up the cook's fat to make the fires burn. 

 As a matter of fact we went to bed as usual and slept without 

 any fires at all. Not only that, but we suffered no discomfort. 

 The only unpleasant thing about it was turning out of one's 

 blankets in the morning to light the fire, and that I admit was 

 cold, but still nothing that a strong man could not stand with 

 equanimity. 



But what will be thought when I state that during those three 

 days of extreme cold Mr. and Mrs. Abrey were on their way from 

 Battlef ord to Fort Pitt, and slept out without any tent, and ivith- 

 out keeping up afire through the night f If a Canadian surveyor's 

 wife could do this, a Canadian surveyor can get to the north pole. 



The next cold snap after this the thermometer reached 58 F., 

 but it did not touch 60 again that winter. Not once during the 

 winter did any of the party suffer from frostbite. I have re- 

 peatedly seen the men chopping bare-handed with the thermome- 

 ter at 25 F. ; and have myself taken observations of the North 

 Star when it was 35 F. It was cold undoubtedly, but it was 

 not as bad as taking the same observation in the mosquito season. 



During the whole twelve months we were out we had not a 

 day's sickness among us, but everybody was decidedly fattest 

 and heartiest during the coldest weather. One fallacy we com- 

 pletely exploded i. e., that extreme cold produces drowsiness. 

 We never saw any indication of it, and since then I have traveled 

 some thousands of miles across the ice of the Georgian Bay in 

 temperatures varying from +32 to 30 F., and never experienced 

 the slightest inclination to drowsiness. Only once in my life 



