that, in severe exposure, quite a _load_
of woollen clothes, even of the best quality, is insufficient to retain
a comfortable degree of warmth; a strong breeze carrying it off so
rapidly, that the sensation is that of the cold piercing through the
body. A jacket made very long, like those called by seamen
"pea-jackets," and lined with fur throughout, would be more effectual
than twice the weight of woollen clothes, and is, indeed, almost
weather-proof. For the prevention of lumbago, to which our seamen are
especially liable, from their well-known habit of leaving their loins
imperfectly clothed, every man should be strictly obliged to wear, under
his outer clothes, a canvass belt a foot broad, lined with flannel, and
having straps to go over the shoulder.[006]

It is certain, however, that no precautions in clothing are sufficient
to maintain health during a Polar winter, without a due degree of warmth
in the apartments we inhabit. Most persons are apt to associate with the
idea of warmth, something like the comfort derived from a good fire on a
winter's evening at home; but in these regions the case is
inconceivably different: here it is not simple comfort, but health, and,
therefore, ultimately life, that depends upon it. The want of a constant
supply of warmth is here immediately followed by a condensation of all
the moisture, whether from the breath, victuals, or other sources, into
abundant drops of water, very rapidly forming on all the coldest parts
of the deck. A still lower temperature modifies, and perhaps improves,
the annoyance by converting it into ice, which again an occasional
increase of warmth dissolves into water. Nor is this the amount of the
evil, though it is the only visible part of it; for not only is a moist
atmosphere thus incessantly kept up, but it is rendered stagnant also by
the want of that ventilation which warmth alone can furnish. With an
apartment in this state, the men's clothes and bedding are continually
in a moist and unwholesome condition, generating a deleterious air,
which there is no circulation to carry off; and, whenever these
circumstances combine for any length of time together, so surely may the
scurvy, to say nothing of other diseases, be confidently expected to
exhibit itself.

Every attention was, as usual, paid to the occupation and diversion of
the men's minds, as well as to the regularity of their bodily exercise.
Our former amusements being almost worn threadbare,