Perhaps, as it was our first experience in sledging, it was as well we were not able to remain absent for a greater length of time. As an instance of the manner in which the different articles increased in weight during the autumn travelling, we found on our return to the ship that the tent which had previously weighed 32 lbs. had increased to 55 lbs., the coverlet from 21 lbs. to 48 lbs., the lower robe from 18 lbs. to 40 lbs., the floor-cloth from 11 lbs. to 29 lbs., and everything else in proportion! This increase is due to the absorption of all moisture, which instantly freezes. In the spring, although the temperature is far lower, this moisture, even when frozen, is extracted by exposure to the sun. In the autumn this is impossible, as the sun has disappeared.
| WINTER QUARTERS, H.M.S. “ALERT.” |
CHAPTER XIII.
WINTER QUARTERS.
| “Let winter come! let polar spirits sweep The dark’ning world and tempest-troubled deep. Though boundless snows the withered heath deform, And the dim sun ne’er wanders through the storm, Yet shall the smile of social love repay With mental light the melancholy day.” Campbell. |
The sledge travellers having all returned, the necessary preparations for passing the winter were immediately taken in hand.
Notwithstanding the loss of the sun, which took its final departure on the 11th of October, we had for many days sufficient light, during five or six hours of the day, to enable us to carry out the manifold duties connected with the preparations for a winter in the Arctic Regions.
Although the ship was completely frozen in, and the ice in which she was imprisoned was increasing in thickness day by day, additional precautions for her safety were taken by burying a couple of the largest anchors on shore, and freezing them into their holes by pouring water over them; to these were attached the chain cables. These we felt would be a perfect security for us against any off-shore gale.