ARCTIC FESTIVITIES 99 



joyed it in spite of the wind, which is just high enough to be 

 disagreeable. 



On the 30th I issued cards of invitation for an " At home 

 in the south parlor of Redcliffe, December 31, from 10 P. M. 

 1 89 1 to 1892." The day was a thoroughly Arctic one, and 

 I was glad that my guests would not have far to come. All 

 day I was busy preparing for company. I had to manufac- 

 ture my own ice-cream without a freezer, bake my own cake 

 and crullers, and set everything out on an improvised side- 

 board. At 9 P. M. I dressed myself in a black silk tea-gown 

 with canary silk front, covered and trimmed with black lace, 

 cut square in the neck and filled in with lace, and having lace 

 sleeves. At ten my guests began to arrive. The invitations 

 were limited to the members of the North Greenland Ex- 

 pedition of '91 and '92, and they all looked especially nice 

 and very much civilized, most of them actually sending in 

 their cards. They were all dressed in "store clothes," al- 

 though one or two clung to their kamiks. I had no chairs, 

 so each guest was requested to bring his own. Mr. Peary sat 

 on the bed, while I occupied the trunk. I spent a very de- 

 lightful evening, and I think the boys enjoyed the chocolate 

 ice-cream and cake. At midnight we all drank "A Happy 

 New Year " in our Redcliffe cocktail, and then my guests 

 departed. All this time the wind was howling and moan- 

 ing, and the snow Avas flying, while the night was black as 

 ink, not a star being visible. More than once during the 

 evening, when a particularly heavy gust swept down from the 



