138 



SECOND VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 



Decenib m ^ mum temperature of 50° to 53°, and frequently during the day was as 

 high as 60°. The temperature of the lower deck at midnight was usually 

 about 50°, without any other fire than that in the warming apparatus. 



Tues. 11. On the 11th, the wind being northerly and the weather tolerably clear, 

 stars of the third magnitude were visible to the naked eye, as late as forty 

 minutes past eight apparent time, those of the second magnitude till a quarter 

 past nine, and of the first till ten o'clock ; after which the sky became rather 

 overcast. This may serve to give some idea of the degree of light at this 

 period. The twilight was of course of long duration, and the redness pro- 

 duced by the sun's rays was sometimes very plainly visible for more than 

 three hours after his setting. 



The temperature of the sea- water in the fire-hole was 29° and, by the same 

 thermometer, that at the bottom in six fathoms and a half was 30°. The de- 

 position of small snow, which I have remarked as almost always going on in 

 these regions in the winter, took place this evening in occasional showers, so 

 thick as to oblige us to cover the instruments with which we were observing, 

 though the stars were plainly visible all the time, and the night was in every 

 other respect what would generally be called clear. 



A great squeezing of the young floes took place at the S.E. point of the 



Wed. 12. island on the 12th. The noise it makes when heard at a distance very much 

 resembles that of a heavy waggon labouring over a deep gravelly road ; but 

 when a nearer approach is made, it is more like the growling of wild ani- 

 mals, for which it was in one or two instances mistaken. It was however 

 rather useful than otherwise to encourage the belief that bears were abroad, 

 as, without some such idea, people are apt to become careless about going 

 armed. 



Thur.13. On the 13th, the thermometer fell to —31° on the ice, being the greatest 

 degree of cold we had as yet experienced. There was, notwithstanding this, 

 a great deal of open water in the offing, covered only by a very slight sheet 

 of young ice. A favourite walk with the officers during the winter was 

 round the S.E. point, where there was in consequence a hard and beaten 

 path upon the snow. The rapid tide which ran here, always kept the point 

 clear of ice, whenever there was any open water at all ; and accustomed as 

 we had before been in the winter to a sea perfectly frozen up, it can scarcely 

 be conceived what a relief it was to the tedious monotony of our situation, 

 to see water naturally in a fluid state and in motion, with birds swimming 

 about in it, even at this inclement season of the year. 



