3o6 FARTHEST NORTH 



a little from the roof in one or two places, especially 

 astern in the four-man cabins, but nothing in comparison 

 with what' is common in other ships; and if we lighted 

 the stove it would disappear altogether. When I have 

 burned a lamp for quite a short time in my cabin every 

 trace of damp is gone.* These are extraordinary fellows 

 for standing the cold. With the thermometer at 22° be- 

 low zero Bentzen goes up in his shirt and trousers to 

 read the thermometer on deck. 



" Monday, Noveniber 27th. The prevailing wind has 

 been southerly, with sometimes a little east. The tem- 

 perature still keeps between 13 and 22' below zero; in 

 the hold it has fallen to 12°." 



It has several times struck me that the streamers 

 of the aurora borealis followed in the direction of the 

 wind, from the wind's eye on the horizon. On Thurs- 

 day morning, when we had very slight northeasterly 

 wind, I even ventured to prophesy, from the direction of 

 the streamers, that it would go round to the southeast, 

 which it accordingly did. On the whole there has been 

 much less of the aurora borealis lately than at the be- 

 ginning of our drift. Still, though it may have been 

 faint, there has been a little every day. To night it is 

 very strong again. These last days the moon has some- 



* When we had fire in the stoves later, especially during the follow- 

 ing winter, there was not a sign of damp anywhere — neither in saloon 

 nor small cabins. It was, if anything, rather too dry, for the panels of 

 the walls and roof dried and shrank considerably. 



