122 



SECOND VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 



^1821. DU ^ by wa y f experiment we now commenced with a proportion of only 

 ^r-r*j ' four pecks, with which a constant fire was kept up throughout the twenty- 

 four hours ; and this quantity was subsequently found sufficient during the 

 whole of this winter. 



The provisions supplied to the Expedition were calculated to last, at full 

 allowance, for a period of three years from the preceding 1st of July, the 

 day the transport left us ; but as, in case of our passing three winters in the 

 ice, and at length effecting our object, it would be absolutely necessary to 

 extend our resources to the close of the year 1824, such arrangements were 

 now commenced as were requisite for that purpose. Such indeed was the 

 unbounded liberality with which all our supplies had been furnished, particu- 

 larly in the important article of Donkin and Gamble's preserved meats, which 

 contain great nutriment in a small bulk, that by a judicious scale previously 

 made out by Mr. Hooper, it was only necessary to adopt, during the inactive 

 season of each winter, a reduction of one-third of the usual proportion of bread 

 and spirits, and of one-sixth of the ordinary allowance of sugar. This reduc- 

 tion could hardly be considered a privation, for the bread was still sufficient, 

 and the spirits much more than enough, for men who had no very laborious 

 duties to perform. 



The regulations for the maintenance of due cleanliness among the ships' 

 companies were principally the same as those established on the preceding 

 voyage. The superior warmth, however, which we could now command 

 between decks, rendered the drying of the clothes and the airing of the 

 bedding a matter of comparative facility ; while the comfort the men expe- 

 rienced from sleeping in hammocks, instead of standing bed-places, now be- 

 came so apparent, that the prejudice at first existing among them on this 

 score soon wore off. This prejudice had indeed principally arisen from the 

 daily removal and replacing of the hammocks, a trouble which, perhaps, 

 occupied each man ten minutes in the twenty -four hours, but which was not 

 necessary with the bed-places. This very circumstance, however, is perhaps 

 what constitutes the chief superiority of one plan over the other ; the ventila- 

 tion of the inhabited parts of the ship being thus materially promoted, and 

 the bedding removed during the whole day from the possibility of imbibing 

 moisture from the victuals, breath, and other sources. 



While care was thus taken to adopt all the physical means within our reach, 

 for the maintenance of health and comfort among the crews, recourse was 

 also had to some of a moral nature, which experience has shewn to be useful 



