At The Place Of Our
Encampment We Could Scarcely Find Sufficient Pine Branches To Floor The
Hut, As The Orkney Men Term The Place Where Travellers Rest.
Its
preparation however consists only in clearing away the snow to the ground
and covering that space with pine
Branches, over which the party spread
their blankets and coats and sleep in warmth and comfort by keeping a
good fire at their feet without any other canopy than the heaven, even
though the thermometer should be far below zero.
The arrival at the place of encampment gives immediate occupation to
every one of the party; and it is not until the sleeping-place has been
arranged and a sufficiency of wood collected as fuel for the night that
the fire is allowed to be kindled. The dogs alone remain inactive during
this busy scene, being kept harnessed to their burdens until the men have
leisure to unstow the sledges and hang upon the trees every species of
provision out of their reach. We had ample experience before morning of
the necessity of this precaution as they contrived to steal a
considerable part of our stores almost from underneath Hepburn's head,
notwithstanding their having been well fed at supper.
This evening we found the mercury of our thermometer had sunk into the
bulb and was frozen. It rose again into the tube on being held to the
fire but quickly redescended into the bulb on being removed into the air;
we could not therefore ascertain by it the temperature of the atmosphere
either then or during our journey.
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