PREPARING FOR WINTER 
the need of ablutions, and has started to scrub 
himself in the water that is intended for cook- 
ing purposes. If the husky has not gone too 
far, the water is not wasted, and our stew is 
all the more savory. 
On board ship there was quite an extensive 
library, especially on Arctic and Antarctic 
topics, but as it was in the Commander's cabin 
it was not heavily patronized. In my own 
cabin I had Dickens' "Bleak House," Kip- 
ling's "Barrack Room Ballads," and the poems 
of Thomas Hood; also a copy of the Holy 
Bible, which had been given to me by a dear 
old lady in Brooklyn, N. Y. I also had 
Peary's books, "Northward Over the Great 
Ice," and his last v/ork "Nearest the Pole." 
During the long dreary midnights of the Arc- 
tic winter, I spent many a pleasant hour with 
my books. I also took along with me a 
calendar for the years 1908 and 1909, for in 
the regions of noonday darkness and midnight 
daylight, a calendar is absolutely necessary. 
But mostly I had rougher things than read- 
ing to do. 
39 
