dreadful sensation said to be produced on the lungs,
causing them to feel as if torn asunder when the air is inhaled at
a very low temperature. No such sensation was ever experienced by
us, though in going from the cabins into the open air, and _vice
versa_, we were constantly in the habit for some months of
undergoing a change of from 80 deg. to 100 deg., and, in several
instances, 120 deg. of temperature in less than one minute; and, what
is still more extraordinary, not a single inflammatory complaint,
beyond a slight cold, which was cured by common care in a day or
two, occurred during this particular period. The second is, the
vapour with which the air of an inhabited room is charged,
condensing into a shower of snow immediately on the opening of a
door or window communicating with the external atmosphere. This
goes much beyond anything that we had an opportunity of observing.
What happened with us was simply this: on the opening of the doors
at the top and bottom of our hatchway ladders, the vapour was
immediately condensed, by the sudden admission of the cold air,
into a visible form, exactly resembling a very thick smoke, which
settled on all the panels of the doors and bulkheads, and
immediately froze, by which means the latter were covered with a
thick coating of ice, which it was necessary frequently to scrape
off; but we never, to my knowledge, saw the conversion of the
vapour into snow during its fall.

On the evening of the 15th, the atmosphere being clear and serene,
we were gratified by a sight of the only very brilliant and
diversified display of Aurora Borealis which occurred during the
whole winter. I believe it to be almost impossible for words to
give an idea of the beauty and variety which this magnificent
phenomenon displayed.

About this time it had been remarked, that a white setter dog had
left the Griper for several nights past at the same time, and had
regularly returned after some hours' absence. As the daylight
increased, we had frequent opportunities of seeing him in company
with a she-wolf, with which he kept up an almost daily intercourse
for several weeks, till at length he returned no more to the
ships; having either lost his way by rambling to too great a
distance, or, what is more likely, perhaps, been destroyed by the
male wolves. Some time after, a large dog of mine, which was also
getting into the habit of occasionally remaining absent for some
time, returned on board a good