THE GERMAN EXPEDITION (1870) 91 



" Of course our tents would soon have been blown over, 

 if some precautions had not been taken. Great distress 

 reigned within. The wind greatly lessened the already 

 small space by pressing in the walls. Through the canvas, 

 through every stitch or smallest opening, spurts a small 

 flood of the finest snow, like Hour out of a flour-mill, or 

 collects itself on the inner surface, where i ts ever-increasing 

 weight at length brings it down like small avalanches. 

 As long as the storm rages the cold is alleviated from the 

 equalisation of warm air over the sea, though it seldom 

 allows any heat to remain in the tent, so that we were 

 still in a cold of from 14° to 5° F. 



" By degrees a covering of snow at least an inch thick 

 lies on the sack, under which we must patiently wait till 

 the storm ceases. We scrape it away with the knife, but 

 it soon returns again. On some occasions this snow began 

 to melt, and penetrate the clothes, making us look like 

 seals coming up out of the water. 



" In a steadily rising temperature, too, the snow on 

 which we lay would melt, and the sack get wet under- 

 neath, not to dry again till the summer, but freeze on 

 the sledge in those hard folds we dreaded so much. We 

 repeatedly felt the want of india-rubber coverings. 



"This state of things often lasted from two to three 

 days, and we waited with an indifference bordering on 

 stupidity, sitting squeezed, with numbed hands, mending 

 the gloves or stockings, almost freezing, masked ; beards 

 full of ice, stuffed up with a chaos of frozen clothes and 

 boots, and, worst of all, fasting. The duration of the 

 journey, as well as the extent of country to be explored, 

 depended upon the use of the provisions. If, therefore, 

 some part of the time was lost through storms, this loss, 

 in spite of hunger, thirst, and loss of strength, could only 

 be regained by reduced rations, which often only consisted 

 of a thin soup. 



