IN AN ANTAECTIC SQALL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 12725, 30 November 1904, Page 1 (Supplement)

IN AN ANTAECTIC SQALL.

Suddenly the mist lifted, and;the tempera- : 1 ture?— ; generally.; roses during a, ; gale— by-'t'uir' lime ..had fallen to 72 degrees of frosts' The first, squall brought drift snow, Mid we suffered . greatly from frostbites while seeming our little camp. Our rein- ' lote sleeping-bags, while warm from 1 previ- ! ous use. ".been cited on the sledge, where'vther: became quite fiat and frozen hard, s64;lf\tw i heii : the gale surprised us we had• to .• thaw : ourselves gradually -'■■ into the ■ bags; Later on we used the dogs to thaw out <!:■<• bags for us. They always liked to roll;-..poii i.uytliiug that was- rut snow or ice, eyen we'l'e. it but a thrown-away mitten ; 'and they would turn round and round over it, imagining that they were warmer there than I on .the snow. ■ When, later, we threw our ' ,fx'.Tf!&n.»pags on' the-snow, the dogs generally •'•, .crcil together on them at one", and soon ' '' va could get into them. j'V-v I lib time the gale was over -.is in earnest, nil we took refuge in our sleepingbap in theiient, from which we were notablib to extricate oinjwlves for the next three nights and days, in which time we expected t' - ky floor beneath us to break up at any in' .neat. Our silk tent rapidly filled with a dense' fog, both from our breath and from thereat given: out;by'the lantern; a thick lave.-- of frost soon covered the inner walk of the ierft, *an iV, beautiful .snow' crystals shone down, on us through the ventilation hole "in the bug. The drift snow buried the teat and tin 1 ; ft".-iv pressure left, us just enough space for our sleeping-bags. The dark.little fpnt' which we formed on those :v<!..sfc; white ileitis was blotted out. ' Men, l.dogs, and sledges" all disappeared, and the t Antarctic gale : a., it raged over -us found. | aioCiisig but cold white solitude. '■■ ' <;■■' ■ Fur .three nights and three day's we had to take turps in standing on all fours to prevent being smothered by the pressure of .tlio'wif.n'. From time to time the Lip; ; joined in jr.etoiicholy native ;}: hymns,■'.» the monotony of which seemed in a remarkable degree to harmonise-with the rage of the ■blizzard;over our'heads. "We had brought'a small aluminium cooking-stove with us into the tout, and with difficulty we prepared a I warm- meal. ■> ljut .in the' 'cold the metal stuck to oursfirigers.,. and it was not pleasant Ito have ( one's turn at cooking. We roasted' i the . heart of, a'seal, but; other .parts : we, ate raw. v The dog-< were completely snowed t.nder. -Some of them had eaten the straps off their h(>rncss-:in older to free themselves V : bin they- wore,, still una bis to inove, h»m<'r frozen to the.ice.—The Century. ,• - . ■ , i -■■■ ...-...„ .