CHAPTER XVI.

AN ARCTIC CHRISTMAS.

"So now is come our joyful'st feast, Let every man be jolly, Eache roome with yvie leaves is drest, And every post with holly; Now all our neighbours' chimneys smoke, And Christmas blocks are burning; Their ovens they with baked meats choke, And all their spits are turning. Without the door let sorrow lie, And if, for cold, it hap to die, We'll bury't in a Christmas pye, And ever more be merry."

WITHER.

On the 21st of December the sun reached its greatest southern declination. We felt on that day that we had cause for rejoicing. The sun had arrived at the limit of its southern journey, and now it would, every day, be travelling to the northward, and therefore in our direction. So rapidly had the time passed that Christmas stole upon us unawares, and we were only reminded of its approach by the strong odour of good things being cooked that pervaded the whole ship, bringing to our minds the fact that preparations for its celebration had actually commenced. Nothing was omitted that could possibly add to the comfort and enjoyment of the men on this day. The ship's stores were thrown open and they were allowed to provide themselves with an unlimited amount, so long as there was no waste, of flour, raisins, sugar, and preserved fruits, and in addition to the regular daily allowance of meat, a pound of musk-ox beef and a pound of mutton were issued to each man. For the two previous days, during which they had been disturbed as little as possible, the men were engaged in making the necessary preparations for spending their Christmas as happily and as socially as if they were in a more genial climate. It must be remembered that this was a day looked forward to by all, not only in the light of a festival, but because it was also regarded as the turning-point of the winter. After Christmas every day would bring us nearer to the sun, whose bright face we all so ardently wished to welcome once more. Moreover, Christmas day, to a community situated as we were, "away from the busy haunts of men," must always be regarded as an epoch, a day looked forward to, and when passed, a day from which many events are dated.

In addition to the supplies afforded by the stores of the ship, we were largely indebted to kind, and in several instances unknown, friends and well-wishers to the expedition in England for many little articles that assisted to amuse our men during this festive season. Amongst these the kind and generous ladies of Queenstown must not be forgotten. These ladies had, previous to our departure from England, formed themselves into a Committee, and had sent to each ship a large Christmas-box containing many useful, and indeed valuable, articles. Each officer received some little package, personally directed to himself, and every man was presented with some pretty little Christmas-box. Nothing could have been more happily thought of, and it would have done the fair donors good could they but have witnessed the pleasure testified by the recipients at the distribution of the contents of their case.

I must not omit to mention another Christmas-box, kindly sent by Mr. Mason, the inventor, I believe, of "Somebody's Luggage," and containing all sorts of amusing little articles suitable either for decorating a table or a Christmas-tree.

Another act of kindness on the part of our friends in England was also much appreciated by both officers and men. A young lady, a relative of one of the officers, had taken the trouble to direct a letter to each individual on board, containing a beautiful Christmas card. To make it appear as if they had been actually delivered through the post, a second-hand postage-stamp had been affixed to each envelope. Her kind forethought afforded a great deal of pleasure to the recipients of those letters.

Christmas eve was spent very merrily by all on board the "Alert." The piano was carried out from the ward-room to the main deck, where dancing was kept up with great animation until eleven o'clock! It is wonderful how fond the English man-of-war's man is of dancing. So long as he can obtain music and a partner to dance with, without regard to sex, he will continue to fling his legs about with great vigour until compelled by heat and exhaustion to desist! The men on board the "Alert" were no exception to this rule; one and all joined in the dance, and seemed thoroughly to enjoy it. Poor Aldrich did not get a moment's peace. As soon as one tune was finished, he was called upon for another. Polka, waltz, and galop followed each other in rapid succession, officers and men joining alike in the general hilarity of the evening.

Christmas morning broke cold and clear; its stillness occasionally interrupted by light puffs of wind from the S.W. Divine service was performed in the forenoon, the pulpit being decorated with branches of artificial holly. When church was over, a little exercise was taken on the "ladies' mile." On my return I found my cabin brightened up by small twigs of variegated holly, a delicate and touching attention on the part of some of my messmates, who had provided themselves with artificial branches of this plant before leaving England. At one o'clock, everything being in readiness, the officers were invited to inspect the lower deck. Preceded by our drum and fife band playing the "Roast Beef of Old England," we paid a formal visit to the men's quarters. The lower deck was beautifully and tastefully decorated with flags, coloured tinsel paper, and artificial flowers, whilst the different mess tables were literally groaning under the weight of the good cheer that adorned them. Everything had a cheerful and comfortable appearance, and, above all, the radiant healthy-looking faces, beaming with pleasure, that so cordially and heartily greeted us with the compliments of the season. Of course, dancing was the prominent feature of the afternoon, Aldrich, with his usual good nature, being again victimized at the piano. At six o'clock, for on such an important occasion we departed from our usual dinner hour of half-past two, we all assembled in the ward-room for dinner, and great was our astonishment and delight at seeing in the centre of our table a magnificent bouquet of artificial flowers. This was, I believe, the happy thought of a lady who had recently been admitted into the circle of "Arctic relations." The bright-coloured flowers, reminding us of home associations, were more thoroughly appreciated than even the good dinner which was provided for us, for which reference must be made to the following _menu_, composed by Pullen:--

H.M.S. "ALERT."

À la Juliènne soup is the _potage_ we favour, And soles fried _au naturel_ serve us for fish; We have cutlets and green peas of elegant flavour-- Beef garnished with mushrooms--a true English dish.

Then a mountain of beef from our cold Greenland valleys, Overshadowing proudly boiled mutton hard by, Till our appetite, waning, just playfully dallies With a small slice of ham--then gives in with a sigh.

For lo! a real English plum-pudding doth greet us, And a crest of bright holly adorns its bold brow; While the choicest mince pies are yet waiting to meet us: Alas! are we equal to meeting them now?

So we drink to our Queen, and we drink to the maiden, The wife, or the mother, that holds us most dear; And may we and our consort sail home richly laden With the spoils of success, ere December next year!

In addition to the bill of fare, the annexed poem by the same accomplished author was printed and placed in front of each member of the mess.

On this glad Christmas Day, While happy bells are flinging O'er bright lands far away Their burst of joyous singing, We love to think that each sweet lay, That sets those echoes ringing, Hushed music from our icy bay To loving hearts is bringing.

Hushed music that shall tell How He has left us never, In whose dear sight we dwell, Who aids our high endeavour; Who, from the hearts that love us well, Our short lives will not sever, For whose good gifts our breasts shall swell With grateful praise for ever!

Our drum and fife band, of their own accord, played several airs very creditably during our dinner, which was brought to a conclusion by a few short speeches. In the evening dancing was again kept up with great animation; every one appeared cheerful and happy. In no region of the world could this Christmas-day have been spent with more mirth and more genuine fellowship than it was by the little band of explorers, so far removed from all home ties and associations, who were celebrating it that day, in a latitude farther north than man had ever before penetrated.

On reviewing the events of the year we felt we had much to be thankful for. We had succeeded, in spite of many dangers and difficulties, in establishing our ship in winter quarters in a position farther north than even some of the most sanguine had, at one time, dared to hope. The English flag had been displayed, both by sea and by land, in a higher northern latitude than any flag had ever before been seen, and although our prospects of further exploration in a northerly direction were somewhat damped, owing to the land trending west, we knew that there was much to be done during the ensuing year in defining and exploring the coasts to the east and to the west. A wide field of exploration was still before us, and there was much useful work to be done during the ensuing spring in a hitherto unknown region.

Half our winter had passed, and although the long dark night of one hundred and fifty days might, by some unacquainted with the many resources we possessed to while away the time, be considered dull and monotonous, monotony and despondency were unknown on board the good ship "Alert." We all looked forward with eager hope to the return of the sun, strong in our determination to do our best, and with our appetites for sledging considerably whetted by the initiation we had received during the autumn.

Hitherto we had, with one exception, enjoyed perfect immunity from sickness, and we all thought that if there was no cold weather in the Arctic Regions to produce frost-bites, the appointments of medical officers to the expedition, so far as their professional qualifications were concerned, were undoubted sinecures. The frost-bites had, however, been very severe, and at the end of the year there still remained on the sick list four of the poor fellows who had been attacked during the autumn sledging, three of whom had suffered amputation of the big toe.

Compelled to keep to their beds, the winter to them must have, indeed, been wearisome; but no word of complaint was ever uttered by them, and they appeared as cheerful and in as good spirits as the best of us. Their only distress was the idea of not being allowed, in consequence of their misfortune, to participate in the spring campaign. The sequel, however, proved, although they took no part in the _extended_ sledging operations, how well and how nobly they worked in their brave endeavours to assist and succour their poor, weak, and stricken comrades; but we must not anticipate.

We had hitherto experienced, in comparison with what we had been led to expect, tolerably mild weather, as Arctic winter weather goes; and the cold had not been so severe as we anticipated; -46.5° or 78½° below freezing-point being, up to the end of the year, the minimum temperature registered. This was by no means an uncomfortable temperature, although superficial frost-bites, especially on the noses and cheekbones, were of constant occurrence. Solitary walks were, of course, prohibited; and it was particularly impressed upon every one that, when they were absent from the ship, they were carefully to watch their companions' faces in order to detect a frost-bite at once, and so be able to restore circulation before permanent injury could be sustained. Face-covers were occasionally worn, but were not in very great favour. They have the disadvantage of freezing to the face, which they also conceal, and so prevent a comrade from seeing and reporting a frost-bite.

In the neighbourhood of our winter quarters there had, up to this time, been a remarkable absence of all animal life. Occasionally the quarter-masters would report that during the night they heard the howling of wolves in the distance, and one night the Eskimo dogs, who were lying curled up in the snow outside the ship, made a sudden rush for the gangway, and evinced great eagerness to get on board. This stampede was attributed to the presence of wolves, but no tracks of these animals had been seen to justify our arriving at such a conclusion. With the exception sometimes of a peculiar, whistling, moaning sound, caused by the rise and fall of the ice with the tide, the stillness of the nights was undisturbed.

We had long been aware that the ice of which this part of the polar sea was composed consisted of huge massive floes, not of a few seasons' formation, but the creation of ages, real thick-ribbed ice. Except along the west coasts of Banks and Prince Patrick Islands, no such ice had ever before been met with in the Arctic Regions. It therefore became desirable to apply to it a special name by which it might be provisionally known. After some discussion, Captain Nares decided upon calling the frozen sea, on the southern border of which we were wintering, the "Palæocrystic Sea," the name being derived from the two Greek words [Greek: palaios] ancient, and [Greek: krystallos] ice. This term was used for the great frozen polar sea during the remaining period of our detention on its borders.[1]

Atmospheric phenomena, such as halos and paraselenæ, were by no means uncommon, and occasionally we were astonished by the heavenly bodies behaving, as it appeared to us, in a very eccentric manner. On one occasion the star Aldebaran was reported to be jumping about in a strange way. Such unusual behaviour on the part of a star brought us all up in the cold, and there, sure enough, was Aldebaran doing exactly what was reported, and altogether conducting itself in a very erratic and unstarlike manner. The illusion was caused by the fall of minute, and imperceptible, frozen particles; but it was some time before we could satisfy ourselves that the star was not actually in motion, many of the men remaining to this day unconvinced. One of our Scotch quarter-masters informed me, some time afterwards, that it was a "vara curious star;" and although the laws of refraction were explained to him, he still persisted in his belief that the movement of the star was due to itself, and would not believe in any other explanation.

At the beginning of the winter, shortly after the return of the sledge parties, the doctor and myself being busily engaged in the construction of a snow house on shore, observed a most brilliant meteor fall, apparently about a quarter of a mile from us, its course being from S.E. to N.W. It was of a bright emerald-green colour, and was falling so quietly and slowly that we at first thought it was a rocket, or Roman candle, let off by some one astern of the ship, it being distinctly visible for many seconds. When it arrived, in our estimation, at about forty feet from the ground, it suddenly burst, displaying bright red and green colours. It was seen by others, from different points of observation; all being unanimous in their opinion that it was one of the most beautiful sights, of the kind, they had ever witnessed.

FOOTNOTE:

[1] The word may not be formed on strictly accurate principles, but it is sufficiently expressive of the fact it is intended to represent, and it is now endeared to us by association and by common usage while serving in the far north.