The American Encyclopedia of History, Biography and Travel / Comprising Ancient and Modern History: the Biography of Eminent Men of Europe and America, and the Lives of Distinguished Travelers.

by Thomas H. Prescott

The stars of the second magnitude in Ursa Major were perceptible to the naked eye, a little after noon on the 11th of December, and the Aurora Borealis appeared faintly in the south-west at night. The cold continued to increase. About the middle of the month, a serious loss took place in the bursting of the bottles of lemon juice; in some boxes of which, two thirds of the contents were found to be destroyed. The vinegar also froze in the same manner, and lost much of its acidity, when thawed. A few gallons of highly concentrated vinegar congealed into a consistence like honey.

Theatrical entertainments took place regularly once a fortnight, and continued to prove a source of infinite amusement to the men; and more than one or two plays were performed, with the thermometer below zero, on the stage on board the Hecla.

The North Georgia Gazette, which we have already mentioned, was a source of great amusement, not only to the contributors, but to those who, from diffidence of their own talents, or other reasons, could not be prevailed on to add their mite to the little stock of literary composition, which was weekly demanded; for those who declined to write were not unwilling to read, and more ready to criticise than those who wielded the pen; but it was that good humored sort of criticism that could not give offense.

On Christmas day the weather was raw and cold, with a considerable snow drift, although the wind was only moderate from northwest. Divine service was performed on board. The men’s usual proportion of fresh meat was increased, as also their allowance of grog, and the day passed with much of the same kind of festivity by which it is usually distinguished at home.

On the first of January scurvy made its appearance among them. Mr. Scallon, gunner of the Hecla, had complained for some days, and the symptoms were now decidedly scorbutic. It was found to be owing to the dampness of his bedding, and proper measures were taken to prevent an increase of the malady. By raising mustard and cress in small boxes near the cabin stove, they were able to give Mr. Scallon and one or two more patients nearly an ounce of salad per day. The vegetables thus raised were necessarily colorless from the privation of light; but they had the same taste as if raised in ordinary circumstances. So effectual were they in the case of Mr. Scallon, that he recovered in less than a fortnight.

Toward the end of the month they began to look out for the sun from the mast head. On the morning of the third of February, the weather being clear, a cross, consisting of the usual vertical and horizontal rays, was seen about the moon. At twenty minutes before noon the sun was seen from the Hecla’s maintop, at the height of fifty-one feet above the sea, being the first time it had been seen for eighty-four days, twelve days less than its actual stay below the horizon. There was now, from eight o’clock till four, sufficient light for any kind of work, and on the seventh they began to collect ballast for the Hecla, to make up for the expenditure of stores.

The coldest part of the year was now approaching; yet the sun had sufficient power to affect the thermometer, which rose from 40 deg. to 35 deg. when exposed to its rays. The distance at which sounds were heard in the open air during the continuance of this intense cold was truly surprising. Conversation carried on a mile off could be distinctly heard. The smoke from the ships, too, owing to the difficulty it has to rise in a low temperature, was carried horizontally to a great distance. On the 15th, the mercury sunk to 55 deg. below zero, which was the most intense degree of cold observed during the winter. Mercury was malleable in this state of the atmosphere.

From this time the temperature gradually rose. The length of the days had so much increased by the 26th of February, that a very sensible twilight was visible in the north.

For the last three or four days of April, the snow on the black cloth of the housing had begun to thaw a little during a few hours in the middle of the day, and on the 30th so rapid a change took place in the temperature of the atmosphere, that the thermometer stood at the freezing, or, as it may more properly be termed in this climate, the thawing point, being the first time that such an event had occurred for nearly eight months, or since the 9th of the preceding September.

This rapid change in the weather revived their hopes of a speedy departure from Melville Island; and they all had sanguine expectations of leaving their winter quarters before July. On the first of May, however, it blew a gale, and the sun was seen at midnight for the first time that season. On the 6th, the people began the operation of cutting the ships out of the harbor; and on the 17th, the ships were once more afloat. On the 21st, some of the officers took a walk inland, and were able to fill a pint bottle with water from a pool of melted snow, which was the first they had seen; a proof of the extreme severity of the climate.