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FUEL ESTIMATE. 423 
for this two months ago, and satisfied myself, after a 
consultation with the carpenter, that we may cut away 
some seven or eight tons of fuel without absolutely 
destroying her sea-worthiness. Ohlsen’s report marked 
out the order in which her timbers should be appro¬ 
priated to uses of necessity:—1, The monkey-rail; 2, 
the bulwarks; 3, the upper ceiling of the deck; 4, eight 
extra cross-beams; 5, the flooring and remaining wood¬ 
work of the forecastle; 6, the square girders of the 
forepeak; 7, the main topsail-yard and topmast; 8, the 
outside trebling or oak sheathing. 
“We had then but thirty buckets of coal remaining, 
and had already burnt up the bulkheads. Since then 
we have made some additional inroads on our stock; 
but, unless there is an error in the estimate, we can go 
on at the rate of seventy pounds a day. Close house¬ 
keeping this; but we cannot do better. We must 
remodel our heating-arrangements. The scurvy exacts 
a comfortable temperature and a drying one. Our 
mean thus far has been 47°,—decidedly too low; and 
by the clogging of our worn-out pipe it is now re¬ 
duced to 42°. 
“The ice-belt, sorry chronicler of winter progress, 
has begun to widen with the rise and fall of the 
sludgy water. 
“October 31, Tuesday.—We have had a scene on 
board. We play many parts on this Arctic stage of 
ours, and can hardly be expected to be at home in all 
of them. 
“To-day was appropriated to the reformation of the 
