^ 



58 MONOTONOUS LIFE. Chap. IV. 



March, 1853, when the temperature rose to +8°; 

 as these were formed last night between the 

 temperatures of +6° and +12°, it would appear 

 that the form is due to a certain fixed tem- 

 perature. In the sun, or even in moonlight, all 

 these crystals glisten most brilliantly ; and as 

 our masts and rigging are abundantly covered 

 with them, the ' Fox ' never was so gorgeously 

 arrayed as she now appears. 



ISth. — One day is very like another ; we 

 have to battle stoutly with monotony ; and but 

 that each twenty-four hours brings with it 

 necessary though trivial duties, it would be 

 difficult to remember the date. We take our 

 guns and walk long distances, but see nothing. 

 Two of the dogs go himting on their own 

 account, sometimes remaining absent all night. 

 What they find or do is a mystery. The 

 weather is generally calm and cold, — very 

 favourable for freezing purposes at all events, 

 — for the ice of only three weeks' growth is 

 two feet thick. 



I hardly expect any considerable disruption 

 of the ice before the general break-up in the 

 spring, yet we do not trust any of our pro- 

 visions upon it, nor is it sufficiently still to set 

 up a magnetic observatory, for which purpose 

 the instruments have been supplied to us. 



