The Siege and Conquest of the North PoleBryce, George
History
The Siege and Conquest of the North Pole
Bryce, George
Arctic regions; North Pole; Scientific expeditions
Parry now writes: “Our plan of travelling being nearly the same
throughout this excursion, after we first entered upon the ice, I may at
once give some account of our usual mode of proceeding. It was my
intention to travel wholly at night, and to rest by day, there being, of
course, constant daylight in these regions during the summer season. The
advantages of this plan, which was occasionally deranged by
circumstances, consisted first, in our avoiding the intense and
oppressive glare from the snow during the time of the sun’s greatest
altitude, so as to prevent, in some degree, the painful inflammation in
the eyes, called ‘snow-blindness,’ which is common in all snowy
countries. We also thus enjoyed greater warmth during the hours of rest,
and had a better chance of drying our clothes; besides which, no small
advantage was derived from the snow being harder at night for
travelling. The only disadvantage of this plan was, that the fogs were
somewhat more frequent and more thick by night than by day, though even
in this respect there was less difference than might have been supposed,
the temperature during the twenty-four hours undergoing but little
variation. This travelling by night and sleeping by day so completely
inverted the natural order of things, that it was difficult to persuade
ourselves of the reality. Even the officers and myself, who were all
furnished with pocket chronometers, could not always bear in mind at
what part of the twenty-four hours we had arrived; and there were
several of the men who declared, and I believe truly, that they never
knew night from day during the whole excursion.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account