rusted
much to their hunting expeditions for a supply of fresh food, without
which there would be little hope of their continuing in a condition of
good health. Coffee was served out at breakfast, and cocoa at supper,
besides being occasionally supplied at other times to men who had been
engaged in exhausting work in extremely cold weather. Afterwards, when
the dark season set in, and the crew were confined by the intense cold
more than formerly within the ship, various schemes were set afoot for
passing the time profitably and agreeably. Among others a school was
started by the captain for instructing such of the crew as chose to
attend in reading, writing, and arithmetic, and in this hyperborean
academy Fred Ellice acted as the writing-master, and Tom Singleton as
the accountant. The men were much amused at first at the idea of "goin'
to school", and some of them looked rather shy at it, but O'Riley, after
some consideration, came boldly forward and said: "Well, boys, bad luck
to me if I don't think I'll be a scholard afther all. My old
gran'mother used to tell me, whin I refused to go to the school that was
kip be an owld man as tuck his fees out in murphies and photteen,--says
she: `Ah ye spalpeen, ye'll niver be cliverer nor the pig, ye wont.'
`Ah, then, I hope not,' says I, `for sure she's far the cliverest in the
house, an' ye wouldn't have me to be cliverer than me own gran'mother,
would ye?' says I. So I niver wint to school, and more be token, I
can't sign me name, and if it was only to learn how to do that, I'll go
and jine; indeed I will." So O'Riley joined, and before long every man
in the ship was glad to join, in order to have something to do.

The doctor also, twice a week, gave readings from Shakespeare, a copy of
which he had fortunately brought with him. He also read extracts from
the few other books they happened to have on board, and after a time,
finding unexpectedly that he had a talent that way, he began to draw
upon his memory and his imagination, and told long stories (which were
facetiously called _lectures_) to the men, who listened to them with
great delight. Then Fred started an illustrated newspaper once a week,
which was named the _Arctic Sun_, and which was in great favour during
the whole course of its brief existence. It is true, only one copy was
issued each morning of publication, because, besides supplying the
greater proportion of the material himself, and executing the
i