health of their friends in England.  The officers also met at a social and friendly dinner, and the day passed with much of the same kind of festivity by which it is usually distinguished at home; and, to the credit of the men be it spoken, without any of that disorder by which it is too often observed by seamen.  A piece of English roast-beef, which formed part of the officers’ dinner, had been on board since the preceding May, and preserved without salt during that period merely by the antiseptic powers of a cold atmosphere.

A great many frostbites occurred about this time, 30th, principally in the men’s feet, even when they had been walking quickly on shore for exercise.  On examining their boots, Mr. Edwards remarked, that the stiffness of the thick leather of which they were made was such as to cramp the feet, and prevent the circulation from going on freely; and that this alone was sufficient to account for their feet having been frostbitten.  Being very desirous of avoiding these accidents, which, from the increased sluggishness with which the sores healed, were more and more likely to affect the general health of the patients by long confinement, I directed a pair of canvass boots, lined with blanketing or some other woollen stuff, to be made for each man, using raw hide as soles:  this completely answered the desired purpose, as scarcely any frostbites in the feet afterward occurred, except under circumstances of very severe exposure.

CHAPTER VI.

First Appearance of Scurvy.—­The Aurora Borealis and other Meteorological Phenomena.—­Visits of the Wolves.—­Reappearance of the Sun.—­Extreme low Temperature.—­Destruction of the House on Shore by Fire.—­Severe Frostbites occasioned by this Accident.

January 1, 1820.—­I received this morning the first unpleasant report of the scurvy having made its appearance among us:  Mr. Scallon, the gunner of the Hecla, had for some days past been complaining of pains in his legs, which Mr. Edwards at first took to be rheumatic, but which, together with the appearance of his gums, now left no doubt of the symptoms being scorbutic.  It is so uncommon a thing for this disease to make its first appearance among the officers, that Mr. Edwards was naturally curious to inquire into the cause of it; and at length discovered that Mr. Scallon’s bedding was in so damp a state, in consequence of the deposite of moisture in his bed-place, which I have before mentioned, as to leave no doubt that to this circumstance, as the immediate exciting cause, his illness might justly be attributed.  The difficulty of preventing this deposite of moisture, and the consequent accumulation of ice, was much greater in the officers’ bed-places than in those of the men, in consequence of the former being necessarily placed in close contact with the ship’s sides, and forming an immediate communication, as it were, with the external atmosphere; whereas in the latter