7G REPORT ON THE INTRODUCTION O^ 



There were no dark days, the shortest, about December 23, when 

 the sun shone nearly two and one-half hours. 



One peculiarity about the days in this country is the long twilight 

 both before the sun rises and after it sets. For fully two hours before 

 the sun appears, a bright glow spreads over the eastern horizon, just 

 as appears in lower latitudes a few minutes before the sun rises. The 

 same condition exists after the sun disappears in the west. The light 

 thus furnished enables one to see for a long distance, and helps to 

 lessen the monotony of the short days. 



I will here state that the watches of both myself and assistant 

 became broken in the early part of the winter, and we had to depend 

 for our time on a single eight-day clock, and on two or three occasions 

 when it stopped we had to set it by the sun as it reached the zenith. 



The coldest day occurred on the 17th of January, when our ther- 

 mometer registered 29° below zero. From the 21st of October until 

 the 8th day of April, a period of five months and sixteen days, there 

 were but two days when the mercury stood above freezing point. This 

 quotation is made from the thermometer readings taken at Cape Prince 

 of Wales, for the reason that our thermometer met with an accident 

 early in the winter, separating the fluid, and although we used it in 

 making our record in the log book, it can not be said to be accurate. 

 The differences between our thermometer and that used at the cape on 

 certain dates show that ours did not register within a few degrees as 

 low, but from other comparisons made it is safe to say that there is little 

 if any difference in the weather between the two places 



The first fall of snow occurred at the station on September 14, but 

 only about 2 inches covered the ground, and it disappeared again in a 

 few hours. Snow was first seen, however, on the mountains east of 

 the station on September 5, and on the loth of that month they were 

 covered and remained so. 



The first blizzard occurred on the 8th of November, and afterwards 

 they were of frequent occurrence, but with a few exceptions they did 

 not last longer than two days. Occasionally they lasted for four days, 

 and from the 8th of February to the 25th of that month a blizzard may 

 be said to have raged all the time. Only now and then for a few hours 

 did the wind cease to blow. 



Perhaps the year in this latitude may best be divided into two sea- 

 sons, namely, that of spring or fall and winter. The summer is so 

 short and there are so few days when the temperature is not chilly that 

 it -an hardly be said to occur at all. Vet there are several weeks dur- 

 ing .July and August that there is not a particle of snow to be seen, 

 the whole surface of the country being covered with a verdure as rich 

 in color as that found anywhere in the States, and wild flowers abound 

 in wonderful profusion. During this time many of the species of birds 



