478 
TBE VOYAGE OF THE VEGA. 
[chap. 
but lay under the water-line, the temperature was never under, 
commonly 1° or 2° above, the freezing-point. 
Much greater inconvenience than from cold did we in the 
cabins suffer from the excessive heat and the fumes, which 
firing in large cast-iron stoves is wont to cause in small close rooms. 
When in the morning after a cold night the watch all too willingly 
obeyed the direction, which sounded from different quarters, to fire 
well, one had often his wish so thoroughly satisfied, that, in half an 
hour after, every man lay bathed in perspiration. There was no 
other help for it than to leave the cabin, take a cold bath and 
a good rub down, dress rapidly, rush on deck for fresh air, 
and cool in the temperature of —30° to —40° prevailing there. 
Other opportunities for bathing were also given both to the officers 
and crew, and the necessary care was taken to secure cleanliness, 
a sanitary measure which ought never to be neglected in Arctic 
winterings. 
The state of health on board during the course of the winter 
was exceedingly good. Dr. Almquist’s report enumerates only 
a few serious maladies, all successfully cured, among which may 
be mentioned stomach colds and slight cases of inflammation of 
the lungs, but not a single case of that insidious disease, scurvy, 
which formerly raged in such a frightful way among the crews 
in all long voyages, and which is still wont to gather so many 
victims from among Polar travellers. 
This good state of health depended in the first place on the 
excellent spirit which inspired the scientific men, the officers 
and the crew of the Expedition, but it ought also to be ascribed 
to the suitable equipment of the Vega, arranged by Captain 
Palander at Karlskrona, and above all to adjustment to the 
climate of our dietary, which was settled on the ground of the 
experience gained in the expedition of 1872-73, and after 
taking the advice of its distinguished physician Dr. Envall. 
The dietary is shown in the following table :— 
