VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY. 
101 
CHAPTER V. 
PRECAUTIONS FOR SECURING THE SHIPS AND STORES FOR PROMOTING 
GOOD ORDER, CLEANLINESS, HEALTH, AND GOOD-HUMOUR, AMONG THE 
SHIPS’ COMPANIES ESTABLISHMENT OF A THEATRE , AND OF THE 
NORTH GEORGIA GAZETTE ERECTION OF AN OBSERVATORY ON SHORE 
COMMENCE OUR WINTER’S AMUSEMENTS — STATE OF THE TEMPERATURE 
AND VARIOUS METEOROLOGICAL PHENOMENA MISCELLANEOUS OCCUR- 
RENCES TO THE CLOSE OF THE YEAR 1819. 
Having now reached the station, where, in all probability, we were 1819. 
destined to remain for at least eight or nine months, during three of which 
we were not to see the face of the sun, my attention was immediately, and 
imperiously, called to various important duties ; many of them of a singular 
nature, such as had, for the first time, devolved on any officer in His Majesty’s 
navy, and might indeed be considered of rare occurrence in the whole history 
of navigation. The security of the ships, and the preservation of the various 
stores, were objects of immediate concern. A regular system to be adopted 
for the maintenance of good order and cleanliness, as most conducive to 
the health of the crews during the long, dark, and dreary winter, equally 
demanded my attention. 
Not a moment was lost, therefore, in the commencement of our operations. 
The whole of the masts were dismantled except the lower ones, and the 
Hecla’s main-top-mast, the latter being kept Added for the purpose of occa- 
sionally hoisting up the electrometer-chain, to try the effect of atmospherical 
electricity. The lower yards were lashed fore and aft amidships, at a suffi- 
cient height to support the planks of the housing intended to be erected over 
the ships, the lower ends of which rested on the gunwale ; and the whole 
of this frame-work was afterwards roofed over with a cloth, composed of 
