undertook a part myself, considering that an example of cheerfulness, by giving a direct countenance to every thing that could contribute to it, was not the least essential part of my duty.
“In order still further to promote good humour among ourselves, as well as to furnish amusing occupation, during the hours of constant darkness, we set on foot a weekly newspaper, which was to be called the ‘North Georgia Gazette and Winter Chronicle,’ and of which Captain Sabine undertook to be the editor, under the promise that it was to be supported by original contributions from the officers of both ships; and though some objection may, perhaps, be raised against a paper of this kind being generally resorted to in ships of war, I was too well acquainted with the discretion, us well as the excellent dispositions of my officers, to apprehend any unpleasant consequences from a measure of this kind: instead of which I can safely say, that the weekly contributions had the happy effect of employing the leisure hours of those who furnished them, and of diverting the mind from the gloomy prospect which would sometimes obtrude itself on the stoutest heart.
“All the water which we made use of while within the polar circle was procured from snow, either naturally or artificially dissolved. Soon after the ships were laid up for the winter, it was necessary to have recourse entirely to the latter process, which added materially to the expenditure of fuel. The snow for this purpose was dug out of the drifts, which formed upon the ice round the ships, and dissolved in the coppers. We found it necessary always to strain the water thus procured, on account of the sand which the heavy snow-drifts brought from the island, after which it was quite pure and wholesome. * * * * * On the 16th Oct. the meridian altitude of the sun was observed by an artificial horizon, which I notice from the circumstance of its being the last time we had an opportunity of observing it for about four months. A thermometer placed in the sun at noon, on the 18th, rose only to -9°, the temperature in the shade being -16°.”
The ice, now twenty-three inches in thickness, had by this time become so firmly attached to the bends of the ships, that they were completely imbedded in it, and the operation of cutting round them occupied their crews almost the whole of two days. The attempt to keep it clear by continual daily sawing was obliged to be abandoned about the middle of November, as the men almost always got their feet wet, from which the most injurious effects upon their health were likely to result. By the l7th December, the water in the Hecla’s well became completely frozen, so that it was no longer possible to work the pumps had they been required. About the same time, a more serious inconvenience began to be experienced
