THE GERMAN EXPEDITION (1870) 89 



fall of snow within, so that by the time the cooking was 

 over, all was covered with a thick coating of ice or crust 

 of snow. 



" It is about eight or nine o'clock : the small rations 

 of boiled beef, soup, and vegetables are no longer enough 

 to allay the daily increasing hunger ; but sleep buries 

 that, as well as our burning thirst, in oblivion. Only 

 occasionally did our sparing supply of spirits allow us to 

 prepare an extra quantity of water. 



" During the march each one carried an india-rubber 

 or tin bottle full of snow, on his bare body, turned as 

 much as possible to the sun, and often after many hours 

 only a few spare spoonfuls (and sometimes nothing) could 

 be obtained from it. 



" Last of all, the cook, after cleaning out the kettle, 

 also fights his way into the sleeping-sack, which thus 

 attains its proper complement. A side position is the 

 only one possible — to-night all lie to the left, to-morrow 

 all to the right. Comfortable positions, such as stretching 

 on one's back for example, meet with a miserable protest, 

 as well as any other after-movement ; and when at length 

 silence falls upon all, the eight men form one single lump. 



" The nose acts no longer merely as a condenser, as 

 on the spring journey ; it now becomes a cold-pole, and 

 leaving it outside the rimy and icy covering is preferable 

 to burying it in the questionable atmosphere of the sack. 

 The mouth, as the only outlet of exhalation, must remain 

 open, but the teeth get so cold that they feel like icicles, 

 and the mask, which it is necessary to wear in the night, 

 freezes to the long beard. 



" Happy were those who, during the lowest temperature 

 within the first fourteen days of our journey, could really 

 lose themselves during the hours of rest, if only for a short 

 time, for they were generally passed in a painful waiting 

 for a happy release, by — dragging ! 



