Oct. 1858. FEEQUENT GALES. 207 



19^/i.— All the 17tli a N.W. gale blew witli 

 fearful violence ; yesterday it abated, but not 

 sufficiently to allow our party to start. This 

 morning Hobson got away with his nine men 

 and ten dogs ; his absence may be from eighteen 

 to twenty days. Autumn travelling is most dis- 

 agreeable ; there is so much wind and snow, the 

 latter being soft, deep, and often wet ; the sun is 

 almost always obscured by mist, and is powerless 

 for warmth or drying purposes, and the tempera- 

 ture is very variable. Moreover there are now 

 only eight hours of misty daylight. To-day 

 the morning was fine, and temperature + 8°. 

 Having completed the preliminary observations 

 of the times of horizontal and vertical vibra- 

 tions, also of the magnetic intensity, I set up 

 to-day the declinometer, and commenced the 

 hourly series of observations on the diurnal 

 variation. I trust it may continue unbroken 

 until we all set out upon our spring travels in 

 March. A hare has been shot, but no other 

 animals seen. 



29^A. — It generally blows a gale of wind 

 here ; the only advantage in return for so much 

 discomfort is that the snow is the more quickly 

 packed hard. As we have only three working 

 men and an Esquimaux left on board for ship's 

 duties, I was assisted a few days ago by the 



