124 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



t F. Griggs 



OUR REFRIGERATOR 



Just behind the tent was an ash-covered snow-drift that made an ideal refrigerator. The only 

 trouble was that our larder was hardly equal to the accommodations afforded. 



This state of affairs worried us very 

 much indeed, for such conditions were 

 the worst possible for the films on which 

 we were depending to vouch for our 

 story. By building a sort of crib with 

 the walking sticks we had brought from 

 the lower camp, we managed to keep them 

 off the floor, and so reasonably cool ; but 

 in spite of all our efforts, they showed 

 considerable deterioration before they 

 could be developed. 



Our instruments also took up water 

 and swelled, so that we feared we should 

 lose everything. A tripod, which had suc- 

 cessfully stood the climate of a tropical- 

 rain forest, jammed so hard that it could 

 not be hammered loose. The cameras 

 swelled until their focal points were 

 shifted. A ^panoramic outfit upon which 

 high hopes had been built refused to work 

 and was altogether useless for the rest of 

 the summer. 



As I saw everything thus rapidly soak- 

 ing up with water, I was very much dis- 



turbed over the consequences that would 

 ensue when we should be caught in the 

 rain ; for, while our f umarole might be 

 an ideal cook-stove, it was no good to dry 

 clothes by. With a steamy tent there 

 would be absolutely no way of drying our 

 clothes after they were once wet. (Trans- 

 portation was so difficult that we had 

 brought no change of clothing.) 



VAPORS OE THE VAEEEY CURED 

 RHEUMATISM 



But in all these fears I was most hap- 

 pily disappointed, for we found that while 

 everything soon became steamy damp in 

 spite of all we could do, likewise anything 

 that got sopping wet was soon reduced to 

 the same moist condition. When we came 

 in soaked through and chilled after a 

 ducking, therefore, we found that the 

 thing to do was to crawl into our blank- 

 ets, and after a while both clothes and 

 bedding would become as "dry" as when 

 we started out. 



