He instituted games on the ice.
Games in the dark! Is that your remark, reader?
But it was very far indeed from being dark. There was at the present time a moon, though it was at no great height above the horizon. Well, moonlight does not last long anyhow, but the bright beams from the star-studded heavens were far better than the moon at its best, and almost dimmed its splendour.
The sky was wondrously clear, and the stars seemed very large. So close aboard, too, did they appear to be that you might have thought it possible to touch them with a fishing-rod.
There are probably no games so invigorating as those called Scottish, or more properly Highland. They tend to the expansion of the chest and to the bracing and strengthening of every muscle in the body.
So hammer-throwing, weight-putting, leaping, and tossing the caber soon became the rule every forenoon. Then in the afternoon, and before tea, Highland dancing was the rage.
This is dancing in every sense of the word. Quadrilles are only fit for old folks, and waltzing--well, it is nice enough in a brilliantly-lit hall, with soft dreamy music and a brilliant partner, but, after all, it is only just wiping your feet and whirling round.
A broad sheet of wood was spread on the ice near the ship for Highland dancing, quite a large platform in fact.
And Duncan, like Auld Nick in Burns's masterpiece, Tam o' Shanter,
"Screwed his pipes and gart them skirl
Till roof and rafters a' did dirl."
* * * * *
Nae cotillion brent new frae France,
But hornpipes, jigs, strathspeys, and reels,
Put life and mettle in their heels."