i 9 ii] A GREAT GALE 3+7 
himself, added, < Why, it's cold, sir.' And indeed so it 
was. The slightly damp chilled surface of the iron had 
conveyed to me the impression of excessive heat. 
There is nothing intrinsically new in this observation ; 
it has often been noticed that metal surfaces at low 
temperatures give a sensation of burning to the bare 
touch, but none the less it is an interesting variant of 
the common fact. 
Apropos. Atkinson is suffering a good deal from his 
hand : the frostbite was deeper than I thought ; for- 
tunately he can now feel all his fingers, though it was 
twenty-four hours before sensation returned to one of 
them. 
Monday, July io. — We have had the worst gale I have 
ever known in these regions and have not yet done with it. 
The wind started at about mid-day on Friday, and 
increasing in violence reached an average of 60 miles for 
one hour on Saturday, the gusts at this time exceeding 
70 m.p.h. This force of wind, although exceptional, has 
not been without parallel earlier in the year, but the 
extraordinary feature of this gale was the long continuance 
of a very cold temperature. On Friday night the thermo- 
meter registered -39 0 . Throughout Saturday and the 
greater part of Sunday it did not rise above -35 0 . Late 
yesterday it was in the minus twenties, and to-day at 
length it has risen to zero. 
Needless to say no one has been far from the hut. 
It was my turn for duty on Saturday night, and on the 
occasions when I had to step out of doors I was struck 
with the impossibility of enduring such conditions for any 
