eserved meat and concentrated soup were
substituted for salt beef, and beer and wine were served out instead of
spirits. They also had sour-krout, pickles, and vinegar. Every day the
seamen were mustered and compelled to swallow a certain quantity of
lime-juice in the presence of their officers, while their gums and shins
were examined to detect the first appearance of scurvy. The stove for
baking was placed in a central position, and by other arrangements a
comfortable temperature was maintained in the cabin. At a distance from
it, however, and in the bed-places, steam and even the breath soon
turned into ice, which had to be carefully scraped away. To amuse the
people, a newspaper was started, under the editorship of Captain Sabine,
and a school was established, at which many of the men, who had never
before handled a pen, learned to write well. Plays were acted, a fresh
one being performed every fortnight, sometimes by the officers, and
sometimes by the men. The theatre was on the quarter-deck, where,
however, the cold was often as low as freezing-point, except close to
the stove,--a position eagerly sought for.

Lieutenant Beechy became stage manager. The theatre received the name
of the North Georgian, and was opened on the 5th of November, with "Miss
in her Teens." The ships' companies were highly delighted, and
Lieutenant Parry took a part himself, considering that an example of
cheerfulness, by giving a direct countenance to everything that could
contribute to it, was not the less essential part of his duty, under the
peculiar circumstances in which they were placed.

It was by this means that Parry established a character for ready and
happy expedients, accompanied by a sound judgment, which kept alive the
active powers of the mind, and prevented it from falling into the worst
of all conditions,--a state of morbid torpor. His plan was completely
successful, and the crew, as well as the officers, were as happy as,
under the circumstances, could possibly be expected.

One of the first works carried out, after the ships had been made snug
for the winter, was the erection of an observatory, at a spot convenient
for communication with the ships; and a house was also built on the
beach, for the reception of the clock and other instruments. The walls
of this were of double plank, with moss between, so that a high
temperature could be kept up in it, without difficulty, by a single
stove. To induce the men