X.] 
THE WINTER DRESS. 
477 
same sort as those which are used in the Russian army. I 
had bought the baschliks in St. Petersburg on account of the 
Expedition. 
6. Fingerless gloves of sealskin and chamois, with an inside 
lining of sheepskin and at the wrists bordered with long-haired 
fur. They were commonly carried with a band from the neck, 
as children are wont to carry their gloves. For outside work 
these thick gloves were too inconvenient; then fingerless 
woollen mittens were used. 
7. Coloured spectacles, which were distributed to all the men 
in the beginning of February. One must himself have lived in 
the Polar regions during winter and spring, “after the return of 
the sun,” to understand how indispensable is such a protection 
from the monotonous white light which then surrounds the eye 
in every direction. The inexperienced, though warned, seldom 
observe the necessary precautions, and commonly pay the penalty 
by a more or less complete snowblindness, which indeed is not 
very dangerous, but is always exceedingly painful, and which 
lasts several days. 
On board the vessel in our cabins and collection-rooms it was 
besides by no means so cold as many would suppose. The sides 
of the vessel in several places indeed, especially in the cabins, 
were covered with a thick sheet of ice, and so was the skylight in 
the gun-room. But in the inhabited parts of the vessel we had, a 
little from the sides, commonly a temperature of -f-12°to that 
is to say about the same as we in the north are wont to have in¬ 
doors in winter, and certainly higher than the temperature of rooms 
during the coldest days of the year in many cities in the south, 
as for instance in Paris and Vienna. By night however the 
temperature in the cabins sank sometimes to -f 5° and + 10°, and 
the board in Of at the side of the berth became covered with ice. 
o 
In the work-room ’tweendecks the thermometer generally stood 
about + 10°, and even in the underhold, which was not heated, 
