The meteors called falling stars were much more frequent during this
winter than we ever before saw them, and particularly during the month
of December.
CHAPTER IV.
Re-equipment of the Ships.--Several Journeys undertaken.--Open
Water in the Offing.--Commence sawing a Canal to liberate the
Ships.--Disruption of the Ice.--Departure from Port Bowen.
The height of the land about Port Bowen deprived us longer than usual of
the sun's presence above our horizon. Some of our gentlemen, indeed, who
ascended a high hill for the purpose, caught a glimpse of him on the 2d
of February; on the 15th it became visible at the observatory, but at
the ships not till the 22d, after an absence of one hundred and
twenty-one days. It is very long after the sun's reappearance in these
regions, however, that the effect of his rays, as to warmth, becomes
perceptible; week passes after week, with scarcely any rise in the
thermometer except for an hour or two during the day; and it is at this
period more than any other, perhaps, that the lengthened duration of a
Polar winter's cold is most wearisome, and creates the most impatience.
Towards the third week in March, thin flakes of snow lying upon black
painted wood or metal, and exposed to the sun's direct rays in a
sheltered situation, readily melted.
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