6 FITTINGS OF THE ' FOX.' Chap. T. 



skylights and capacious ladderways had to be 

 reduced to limits more adapted to a polar clime ; 

 the whole vessel to be externally sheathed with 

 stout planking, and internally fortified by strong 

 cross beams, longitudinal beams, iron stanchions, 

 and diagonal fastenings ; the false keel taken off, 

 the slender brass propeller replaced by a massive 

 iron one, the boiler taken out, altered, and 

 enlarged ; the sharp stem to be cased in iron 

 until it resembled a ponderous chisel set up 

 edgeways ; even the yacht's rig had to be 

 altered. 



She was placed in the hands of her builders, 

 Messrs. Hall and Co., of Aberdeen, who dis- 

 played even more than their usual activity in 

 effecting these necessary alterations, for it was 

 determined that the 'Fox' should sail by the 

 1st July. 



Internally she was fitted up with the strictest 

 economy in every sense, and the officers were 

 crammed into pigeon-holes, styled cabins, in 

 order to make room for provisions and stores ; 

 our mess-room, for five persons, measured 8 feet 

 square. The ordinary heating apparatus for 

 winter use was dispensed with, and its place 

 supplied by a few very small stoves. The ' Fox ' 

 had been the property of the late Sir Eichard 

 Sutton, Bart., who made but one trip to Nor- 



