LAXD A2' LAST AV 



lamps in it that we could very well lie each in our own 

 berth with a blanket over us, and so we had unpicked the 

 bag. Lamps were made by turning up the corners of 

 some sheets of German silver, filling them with crushed 

 blubber, and laying in this, by way of a wick, some pieces 

 of stuff from the bandages in the medicine-bag. They 

 burned capitally, and gave such a good light, too, that 

 we thought it looked very snug; but it neither was nor 

 ever would be sufficient to warm our still rather per- 

 meable hut, and we lay and shivered with cold all 

 night. We almost thought it was the coldest night we 

 had had. Breakfast next mornino- tasted excellent, and 

 the quantity of bear-broth we consumed in order to put 

 a little warmth into our bodies is incredible. We 

 at once decided to alter this by making along the back 

 wall of the hut a sleeping-shelf broad enough for us to 

 lie beside one another. The blankets were sewed to- 

 gether again, we spread bearskins under us, and were as 

 comfortable as we could be under the circumstances ; and 

 we made no further attempt to part company at night. 

 It was impossible to make the substratum at all even, 

 with the rough, angular stones which, now that every- 

 thing was frozen, were all we had at our disposal, and 

 therefore we lay tossing and twisting the whole winter to 

 find something like a comfortable place among all the 

 knobs. But it was hard, and remained so ; and we al- 

 ways had some tender spots on our body, and even sores 

 on our hips, with lying. But, for all that, we slept. In 



