as before, and at a quarter past three we reached our
winter-quarters, and hailed the event with three loud and hearty
cheers from both ships' companies. The ships were in five fathoms
water, a cable's length from the beach on the northwestern side of
the harbour, to which I gave the name of WINTER HARBOUR; and I
called the group of islands which we had discovered in the Polar
Sea the NORTH GEORGIAN ISLANDS.

CHAPTER V.

Precautions for securing the Ships and Stores.--For promoting Good
Order, Cleanliness, Health, and Good-Humour among the Ships'
Companies.--Establishment of a Theatre and of the North Georgia
Gazette.--Erection of an Observatory on Shore.--Commence our
Winter's Amusements.--State of the Temperature, and various
Meteorological Phenomena.--Miscellaneous Occurrences to the Close
of the Year 1819.

Having, on the 19th October, reached the station where, in all
probability, we were destined to remain for at least eight or nine
months, during three of, which we were not to see the face of the
sun, my attention was immediately and imperiously called to
various important duties; many of them of a singular nature, such
as had, for the first time, devolved on any officer in his
majesty's navy, and might, indeed, be considered of rare
occurrence in the whole history of navigation. The security of the
ships and the preservation of the various stores were objects of
immediate concern. A regular system to be adopted for the
maintenance of good order and cleanliness, as most conducive to
the health of the crews during the long, dark, and dreary winter,
equally demanded my attention.

Not a moment was lost, therefore, in the commencement of our
operations. The whole of the masts were dismantled except the
lower ones and the Hecla's main-topmast; the lower yards were
lashed fore and aft amidships, to support the planks of the
housing intended to be erected over the ships; and the whole of
this framework was afterward roofed over with a cloth. The boats,
spars, running rigging, and sails were removed on shore; and, as
soon as the ships were secured and housed over, my whole attention
was directed to the health and comfort of the officers and men.
The surgeon reported that not the slightest disposition to scurvy
had shown itself in either ship.

Soon after our arrival in Winter Harbour, when the temperature of
the atmosphere had fallen considerably below zero of Fahrenheit,
we found that the steam from th