ble upon her out of the dark, to meet the
same fate. Here and there, amid deafening noise, some great mass
rises up and launches itself threateningly upon the bulwarks, only
to sink down suddenly, dragged the same way as the others. But at
times when one hears the roaring of tremendous pressure in the night,
as a rule so deathly still, one cannot but call to mind the disasters
that this uncontrollable power has wrought.

"I am reading the story of Kane's expedition just now. Unfortunate
man, his preparations were miserably inadequate; it seems to me to
have been a reckless, unjustifiable proceeding to set out with such
equipments. Almost all the dogs died of bad food; all the men had
scurvy from the same cause, with snow-blindness, frost-bites, and all
kinds of miseries. He learned a wholesome awe of the Arctic night,
and one can hardly wonder at it. He writes on page 173: 'I feel
that we are fighting the battle of life at disadvantage, and that
an Arctic day and an Arctic night age a man more rapidly and harshly
than a year anywhere else in this weary world.' In another place he
writes that it is impossible for civilized men not to suffer in such
circumstances. These were sad but by no means unique experiences. An
English Arctic explorer with whom I had some conversation also
expressed himself very discouragingly on the subject of life in the
polar regions, and combated my cheerful faith in the possibility
of preventing scurvy. He was of opinion that it was inevitable, and
that no expedition yet had escaped it, though some might have given
it another name: rather a humiliating view to take of the matter,
I think. But I am fortunately in a position to maintain that it
is not justified; and I wonder if they would not both change their
opinions if they were here. For my own part, I can say that the Arctic
night has had no aging, no weakening, influence of any kind upon me;
I seem, on the contrary, to grow younger. This quiet, regular life
suits me remarkably well, and I cannot remember a time when I was in
better bodily health balance than I am at present. I differ from these
other authorities to the extent of feeling inclined to recommend this
region as an excellent sanatorium in cases of nervousness and general
breakdown. This is in all sincerity.

"I am almost ashamed of the life we lead, with none of those darkly
painted sufferings of the long winter night which are indispensable to
a properly exciting Arctic expedi