INTENSE COLD. 
43 
seen but one since his arrival on the fishing-sta¬ 
tions. 
May 9th .—Again the wind increased to a 
fresh gale from the NE. and the weather became 
intensely'cold. The deck thermometer was never 
higher than 2°, and sometimes as low as — 5°; 
at the mast-head, the temperature was below zero 
all the day. The greatest cold noticed in this 
situation was — 8°; which was the extreme of 
my observations during twenty voyages to the 
whale-fishery. The frost-rime constituted a dense 
stratum of mist 50 or GO feet in altitude, so as to 
circumscribe the prospect from the deck to about 
150 yards; while at the mast-head, where the 
observer could see over it, the limit was extended 
to a mile or upwards. This obscurity rendering 
the navigation among crowded drift-ice extreme¬ 
ly dangerous, required my personal superinten¬ 
dence at the mast-head, where the temperature 
was from 3 to 8 degrees below zero, for several 
hours at a time. This intensity of cold, which 
was rendered excessively penetrating by the 
strength of the wind with which it was accom¬ 
panied, was severely felt. There is little doubt 
but it was more painful to the feelings than a 
temperature of — 30° or — 40° would have been 
in a calm atmosphere. Though w r e had smootli 
water, and kept the companion-door constantly 
