Head and Foot of the Small Pack Penguin. Showing the Changed Summer Plumage under the Bill.
(Pygosulis Adeliae.)
It is the doctor’s birthday. We have had a special feast with champagne. Many efforts were made to lighten the spirits of the men, but our efforts were only of temporary duration. The captain has made the greatest endeavour to break the spell of “shivers” which hung over us. He fixed up in his full-dress suit, and induced the doctor to do the same. In this costume we came to the dining table, and took the cabin by surprise. After a half-hearted meal, a full-hearted exchange of greetings followed a certificate of honour, presented by Captain Lecointe.
Doctor Cook:
I make fast the occasion of your anniversary in order to exprime all the sympathy you suggest to me.
In proof of that friendship, and because of that great day, I take the engagement to repair one pair of your knit stockings.
Dixi,
G. Lecointe.
Antarctic Ocean, S. Y. Belgica, June 10, 1898.
The amusement, however, was expensive to us, for we shivered and felt most uncomfortable. We had not worn stiff collars nor boiled shirts in seven months; nor had we the custom of arranging neckties and holding our heads and bodies steady enough for the tight fit of our suits. Lecointe made a nautical observation in the suit with an ordinary winter overcoat. The temperature was about -20° C. The stars used for the observation were Jupiter and Canis Majoris, and the position as fixed was latitude 71° 20′ 7″, longitude 87° 17′ 50″. Lecointe declared that he would never try the experiment again. He came to the cabin shivering with a chill, which did not entirely pass off for some minutes.