& 



THE GERMAN EXPEDITION (1870) 87 



toes, or the hands being frost-bitten. The hair of the 

 face, and even the eyelashes, get hoar with frost, — indeed, 

 the eyes are often completely closed, — and every frozen 

 spot on the body must at once be rubbed with lumps of 

 snow resembling pumice-stone, until a warm, pricking 

 glow succeeds. When, as in the case of many of our 

 party, the frozen hands or feet were not rubbed with 

 snow until too late, it led to numerous blisters. The 

 fingers swelled up into lumps, and became quite numbed ; 

 but the noses (the whole eight of which were frozen) were 

 more fortunate : thev emerged from a white into a red 

 stage of enlarged dimensions, were eventually covered with 

 a parchment-like skin, remaining for some time most 

 sensitive, and by slow degrees regained their normal 

 condition, so that by the time we landed in Europe they 

 were all right again. The heat of our bodies, which we 

 did our best to retain by warm woollen clothes, was carried 

 away in a moment by the slightest wind ; and if it in- 

 creased, the cold crept between every button of our seal- 

 skin clothing ; the penetrating icy wind was felt at every 

 stitch ; the arms hung down like lead, deadly cold, and no 

 one dared to walk about without a mask. If the wind 

 rose still more, curtains of penetrating snow-crystals rose 

 with it from the ground ; then a snowstorm, which alwavs 

 comes from the north, might be expected, announcing 

 itself by a lofty white appearance in the south, the violet 

 colour and close proximity of the mountains, and low- 

 hanging clouds. But still we risk the march forward 

 against the thickening snow, until painful breathing and 

 stiffening limbs warn us to pitch our tent. 



" Under ordinary circumstances this was done about 

 6 or 7 p.m., on a smooth surface. A hole was quickly dug 

 with shovels, on which the tent was erected, and the dug- 

 out blocks of snow laid round it for safety against the 

 storm, and the sledge placed as a shield to the north. 



