142 
led with saw-dust and sand, to counter¬ 
act the slippiness arising from the com¬ 
bined effects of frost and grease. The 
cabin-floor, too, was covered with saw¬ 
dust, and the crew kept some of it in 
their pockets to clean their hands. In 
this space of time we catched five fish 
of different magnitudes. 
During the time we were in those 
high latitudes, our compasses, five in 
number, varied widely from each other; 
but this is known to happen to all com¬ 
passes, according as- they are placed in 
different parts of the ship. That which 
was kept in the cabin varied the least. 
This may perhaps tend to confirm the 
opinion of some navigators, who have 
maintained that the polarity of the needle 
is injured by intense cold. The notion 
of the variation decreasing as the dis¬ 
tance from the Pole diminishes, does not 
appear to have any foundation. Accord¬ 
ing to Captain Phipps, 
