llustrations in a style that would have made Mr Leech of the present
day envious, he had to transcribe the various contributions he received
from the men and others in a neat, legible hand. But this _one_ copy
was perused and reperused as no single copy of any paper extant--not
excepting _The Times_ or _Punch_--has ever yet been perused; and when it
was returned to the editor to be carefully placed in the archives of the
_Dolphin_, it was emphatically the worse for wear. Besides all this, a
theatre was set agoing--of which we shall have more to say hereafter.

In thus minutely recounting the various expedients which these banished
men fell upon to pass the long dark hours of an Arctic winter, we may,
perhaps, give the reader the impression that a great deal of thought and
time were bestowed upon _amusement_, as if that were the chief end and
object of their life in those regions. But we must remind him that
though many more pages might be filled in recounting all the
particulars, but a small portion of their time was, after all, taken up
in this way; and it would have been well for them had they been able to
find more to amuse them than they did, for the depressing influence of
the long-continued darkness, and the want of a sufficiency of regular
employment for so many months, added to the rigorous nature of the
climate in which they dwelt, well-nigh broke their spirits at last.

In order to secure warmth during winter, the deck of the ship was padded
with moss about a foot deep, and, down below, the walls were lined with
the same material. The floors were carefully plastered with common
paste, and covered with oakum a couple of inches deep, over which a
carpet of canvas was spread. Every opening in the deck was fastened
down and covered deeply over with moss, with the exception of one hatch,
which was their only entrance, and this was kept constantly closed,
except when it was desirable to ventilate. Curtains were hung up in
front of it to prevent draughts. A canvas awning was also spread over
the decks from stem to stern, so that it was confidently hoped the
_Dolphin_ would prove a snug tenement even in the severest cold.

As has been said before, the snow-drift almost buried the hull of the
ship; and, as snow is a good _non-conductor_ of heat, this further
helped to keep up the temperature within. A staircase of snow was built
up to the bulwarks on the larboard quarter, and on the starboard side an
inclined