212 
THE VOYAGE OF THE VEGA. 
[CHAP. 
on the 21st — 29*5°. Next day in the morning it stood at — 82°, 
and in the evening at—37°, but these figures were arrived at 
hy guess, the instrument not indicating so low temperatures. 
This temperature of —30° to —32°, varying with frozen 
mercury, continued till the end of November, when it rose again' 
to — 11’5°. At Christmas there was again a temperature of — 81° 
and the six following days the mercury was frozen, with which 
the new year came in. The temperature then rose again to — 20°, 
but soon sank so that from the 16th January the mercury was 
frozen for five days. On the 22nd January the reading was — 9°. 
On the 26th the mercury froze again, and on the 29th the temper¬ 
ature was — 6°. During the month of February the temperature 
never rose above — 24°; the mercury was frozen on the 20th, 25th, 
26th, and 28th. This was the case on the 1st, 8rd, 6th, 7th, 
14th, 16th, and 18th March; on the 22Dd March the reading 
was—7°, on the 30th—29°. April began with —31°, but the 
temperature afterwards rose, so that on the 16th it reached - 11° 
and varied between ~ 21° and — 6° (the 25th). On the 2nd May the 
reading in the morning and evening was — 12°, at mid-day — 2° to 
— 5° On the 8th May it was -1- 0, on the l7th —10’5°, on the 
31st + 0'5°. June began with -f 1*5°. On the 8th the reading 
at mid-day was -h 11°, on the morning and evening of the same 
day + 2° to -F 3°. During the remainder of June and the month 
of July the temperature varied between + 2° and -f 21°. 
It was in such circumstances that Nummelin and his four 
companions lived in the ill-provided house of planks on the 
Little Briochov Island. They removed to it, as has been already 
said, on the 5th October; on the 20th the ice was so hard frozen 
that they could walk upon it. On the 26th snowstorms 
commenced, so that it was impossible to go out of the house. 
The sun was visible for the last time on the 21st November, 
and it reappeared on the 19th January. On the 15th May the 
sun no longer set. The temperature was then under the 
freezing point of mercury. That the upper edge of the sun 
i 
