36 THE ANTARCTIC MANUAL. 
1 mile headway.* Snow was falling almost continuously, being very 
fine and slight. The thermometer fell from 31°7° F. to 27°7° F. 
Again on February 10 I have recorded a brief North-west and North- 
north-west gale, after which there were some hours of calm. The 
wind by 8 a.m. on February 12 had veered to South, force 1, and 
remaining South, increased to force 8 by 11 a.m., rising to a recorded 
11 to12atnoon. At 4.30 am, on the 13th it had not abated in the 
least; from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. force 8 is recorded, and in the evening 
there was only a strong breeze. In this instance I must have 
recorded too great a force, according to some authorities, since I am 
here to tell the tale; but our captain described it as the hardest gale 
that ever blew in the Arctic or the Antarctic, and so hard that we 
could not have borne close-reefed topsails in the open. For part of 
the time thick fog prevailed, and fine snow was driven before the 
wind. The thermometer fell from 32°4° F. to 25°2° F. The baro- 
meter was lowest at 10 a.m. on the 12th, standing at 28°978 inches, 
and by 1 a.m. on the 13th had only risen to 29°05’. 
Observations were made every two hours as far as was possible, 
and have been grouped in twelve columns for each day. The mean 
of these has been calculated for every month, and again from these 
twelve means the mean temperature of the month has been obtained. 
In no case does the mean monthly temperature exceed that of the 
freezing-point of water. For the last two weeks of December it was 
31°1° F., which was also the mean temperature of January, while 
that of the first eighteen days of February was 29°7° F. In the 
region traversed from lat. 61° S. to 64° 40'S, and from long. 53° W. 
to 57° W., which may roughly be compared to that of the Farées in 
the Northern Hemisphere, the mean air-temperature in the month of 
maximum temperature is half a degree below the freezing-point, 
instead of about 23 degrees above it. It may be assumed that 
January is the warmest month, since the observations made in 
December, while giving the same mean temperature, were obtained 
only in the latter, and presumably the warmer, fortnight of the 
month, Except for the rise at 6 a.m. in December, which is the 
mean of only two readings, and is therefore not considered, the two 
hourly mean temperatures cross the line of the melting of ice only at 
4 and 8 p.m. in December, and at 2 p.m. in January, the mean 
maximum at 2 p.m. in February coming within two-tenths of it. 
The warmest hours of the day (8 a.m. to 6 p.m.) averaged 31°5° 
in December, 31°4° in January, and 30°5° in February ; while the 
night temperatures (8 p.m. to 6 a.m.) were 1°1° lower in January, 
* Under most favourable conditions, calm sea and no wind, the vessel can steam 8 knots. 
