Page 364

364

the sameness of the month owing to the
deep hills which shadow as towards Charlotte
Wood Fiord we had no direct sunshine
upon the brig until the 5th while all
around the gnarled and savage scenery
was flocked with patches of golden
yellow or screened by the intrusion of
long shadows. Some of this pictured
upon the ice floes the hills and rock
and valleys which gave them birth - The
gorge of Mary River thus drawn upon the
snow was a curious spectacle and the
N.E. headland of our bay was oftentimes
as crimson as the fires of the witchs
cauldron at Walnut Street Theater -
- a little more [?] Mr. [Property] man?
I never saw anything so grand.

Now we have the stars gradually waning
on the 24th we lost Polaris at 9.P.M. now
he is invisible at midnight. We have a
working light for 22 out of the 24 hours
and can read the Thermometers at midnight.
The Sun will be circumpolar in
twenty days.

Ptarmagan fly in pairs already;
Their crops show a great plenty of willow
and the tender fibrils of the Pea viridis -
Their plumage is still in full winter colouring
but by examining the tail feathers of the
Female a little brown may be found above their
black terminations.

Our temperatures feel the sun
-20^o is out late mean at noon day
the sun on an enclosed Pouchet Therm
giving -1^o to +2^o - our nights -
from 10 P.M. to 2 A.M. mean -40^o.
and the morning hours are warmer
than those of similar altitudes after
the noon meridian.

I have calculated our mean temperatures for last [year?]
(Insert them from page 382)