| “As rays around the source of light Stream upward ere he glow in sight, And watching by his future flight Set the clear heavens on fire.” |
Our hopes grew high as noon drew near, but again were we disappointed, and again were we compelled to return to the ship, defeated in our object of welcoming back the “Prodigal Sun!”
The next day was cloudy, but on the following one, by going aloft about ten o’clock, we had the satisfaction of announcing that about one-third of the sun’s disc was visible, as it crept slowly along the southern horizon. Instantly the rigging swarmed with men, scrambling up with elephantine agility to greet the fiery orb after its long absence, and looking more like animated bales of furs than human beings. It appeared of a deep reddish orange colour, but was so distorted by refraction that its shape was more that of a truncated cone than a spherical body.
By noon Cairn Hill was covered with expectant visitors, and well were they repaid for the trouble of the ascent. Although little of the sun could be seen above the distant land, we knew that it was there, and what we did see was bright, and appeared with a slight stretch of the imagination to be warm!
Romeo’s words—
| “Night’s candles are burnt out, And jocund day stands Tip-toe on the misty mountain tops,” |
were on our lips as we beheld the beautiful colours in the northern sky. The roseate tints blending with the violet seemed to belong more to southern climes than to the sterile inclement regions that we were inhabiting. The summits of the hills, the “misty mountain tops,” were bathed in its glorious rays, whilst its luminous beams danced and glimmered along the distant ice-floes. It was a bright and glorious sight, and we remained long admiring it, and revelling in its rays—in fact, until warned by a peculiar sensation in our feet that the temperature was actually 100° below freezing-point; and however ecstatic we might feel at the reappearance of the sun, Jack Frost still reigned supreme, exacting implicit obedience to his will, and making those who disregarded his injunctions suffer for their heedlessness.
Undoubtedly the Arctic Regions, and the farther north the better, would be a good place for Parsees; for none of the followers of Zoroaster could have exhibited more anxiety for the return, and more delight at the appearance, of their deity, than we did before and after the bright rays of the sun first fell upon us! Their god Fire would also receive, during the long cold Polar winter, the utmost homage and attention. Sun and Fire worshippers would require in these regions little to stimulate them to devotion.
Strange to say, our extreme cold came with the returning sun. During the latter end of February the temperature had been gradually getting lower and lower, until on the 4th of March it had fallen to -74°, or 106° below freezing-point. This was the lowest recorded by the expedition, obtained from the mean of several thermometers, and, so far as we could ascertain, the lowest really authentic corrected observation that has ever been registered in any part of the globe. From noon of the 3rd until noon of the 4th the mean temperature was -69°.68, whilst the lowest mean temperature registered for any twenty-four consecutive hours was from four A.M. of the former until four A.M. of the last-mentioned day -70°.31. From six P.M. on March 2nd until six A.M. of March 4th, namely thirty-six consecutive hours, the mean temperature was as low as -69°.93′, and for the week ending March 4th the mean temperature was -60°!
It was amusing to observe the eager excitement with which every one received the latest intelligence regarding the state of the thermometer, and when it was announced that the “lowest on record” had been registered, there was a general shout of exultation. During the intense cold several experiments were tried by exposing various substances to its influence, and with the following results. Glycerine, on which a temperature of -50° had little effect, became, at -70°, perfectly solid and quite transparent. Rectified spirits of wine became of the consistency of hair-oil. Concentrated rum, 40° over-proof, froze hard when exposed in a shallow vessel like a saucer, but when in a large quantity it resembled honey or molasses in consistency. Whiskey froze hard, and we actually broke off bits and ate it! In consequence of this latter proceeding we have since our return to England been, not without reason, accused of “hard drinking,” an accusation we are, of course, unable to refute! Chloroform was the only substance on which the low temperature had no apparent effect. Our temperatures were obtained by taking the mean of ten thermometers that were exposed, to which result was applied the corrections from Kew for each instrument. These had been ascertained when the instruments were tested at the Kew observatory before leaving England. The corrections and errors of the instruments could, of course, only be approximately ascertained after the freezing-point of mercury had been passed, as there was nothing beyond that with which the spirit could be compared. The slightest impurity of the spirit used, or the presence of even the most minute portions of extraneous matter in it, would no doubt seriously affect the accuracy of the observation. As an instance of the range exhibited by these instruments, it may be interesting to know that one thermometer indicated as low a temperature as -82°, while, at the same time, another showed only -60°; but by applying the errors deduced at Kew, the result was as nearly as possible the same. I think that the minimum temperature recorded by us was, if not absolutely correct, as nearly so as it was possible to arrive at.