300 THE ANTARCTIC MANUAL. 
During the month of April the snow is hard, and favourable for 
travelling, but the winds are, of course, still very cold; and if at all 
fresh, frost-bites are almost constantly playing about the men’s faces. 
Thirst is also a good deal complained of. May differs in being milder: 
the sun is now constantly up; snow-blindness is more frequent than 
frost-bites, and, to avoid it as much as possible, the travellers sleep 
by day and march by night. Some fresh snow falls, and, therefore, 
although the sledges are lighter, the labour of dragging is scarcely 
diminished. Between the old frost-bites, the keen winds and strong 
sun, all faces are badly blistered ; most noses are absolutely raw, and 
finger-tips quite callous from frequent, though slight, frost-bites. 
Early in June a few eider ducks, gulls and ptarmigan appear. As 
the month advances the snow becomes very soft. Soon the thaw 
bursts forth ; the land is rendered impassable by innumerable stream- 
lets; the sea-ice is flooded, and the whole aspect of nature has sud- 
denly changed. 
Matters now look serious. But frost-bites are things of the past; 
even snow-blindness is less troublesome, and the abundance of water 
is an unspeakable relief. Those who have soap are now tempted to 
use it! This, however, is the season for rheumatic pains, consequent 
upon the daily march through ice-cold water. It is well to avoid 
such late travelling as this. 
The travellers return with prodigious appetites; they weigh on 
an average twelve lbs. less than when they set out; they are reduced 
in strength as well as in flesh, yet: they can walk for hours without 
fatigue; their sight for distant objects is much more keen, and their 
powers of observation of external objects, such as traces of men or 
animals, etc., much sharpened by exercise : in fact, they have advanced 
a stage towards the condition of the North American Indian. 
The nine sledge parties employed in the spring of 1853, from the 
Resolute and Intrepid, accomplished in the aggregate 7000 miles, and 
discovered and explored about 1800 miles of coast-line. This single 
spring season’s travelling may be taken as a suitable basis for calcu- 
lating what possible amount of work may be performed by the out- 
going Arctic Expedition, provided that all the circumstances prove to 
be somewhat similar. 
In the spring operations alluded to Captain Nares took a share, 
and played his part well, giving proofs of those high qualities which 
have since borne such good fruit, and which so amply justify his 
translation from one very interesting and important command to 
another still more important, more difficult, perhaps the most diffi- 
cult, to which a commander could aspire. 
