Not a moment was lost, therefore, in the commencement of our operations. The whole of the masts were dismantled except the lower ones and the Hecla's main-topmast; the lower yards were lashed fore and aft amidships, to support the planks of the housing intended to be erected over the ships; and the whole of this framework was afterward roofed over with a cloth. The boats, spars, running rigging, and sails were removed on shore; and, as soon as the ships were secured and housed over, my whole attention was directed to the health and comfort of the officers and men. The surgeon reported that not the slightest disposition to scurvy had shown itself in either ship. Soon after our arrival in Winter Harbour, when the temperature of the atmosphere had fallen considerably below zero of Fahrenheit, we found that the steam from the coppers, as well as the breath and other vapour generated in the inhabited parts of the ship, began to condense into drops upon the beams and the sides, to such a degree as to keep them constantly wet. In order to remove this serious evil, a large stone oven, cased with cast iron, in which all our bread was baked daring the winter, was placed on the main hatchway, and the stovepipe led fore and aft on one side of the lower deck, the smoke being thus carried up the fore hatchway. On the opposite side of the deck an apparatus had been attached to the galley-range for conveying a current of heated air between decks. This apparatus simply consisted of an iron box, about fifteen inches square, through which passed three pipes of two inches diameter, communicating below with the external air, and uniting above in a metal box, fixed to the side of the galley-range; to this box a copper stovepipe was attached, and conveyed to the middle part of the lower deck. When a fire was made under the air-vessel, the air became heated in its passage through the three pipes, from which it was conveyed through the stovepipe to the men's berths. While this apparatus was in good order, a moderate fire produced a current of air of the temperature of 87°, at the distance of seventeen feet from the fireplace; and with a pipe of wood, or any other imperfect conductor of heat, which would not allow of its escaping by the way, it might undoubtedly be carried to a much greater distance. By these means we were enabled to get rid of the moisture about the berths where the people messed; but when the weather became more severely cold, it still accumulated in the bed places occasionally to a serious and very alarming degree. Among the means employed to prevent the injurious effects arising from this annoyance, one of the most efficacious, perhaps, was a screen made of fearnaught, fixed to the beams round the galley, and dropping within eighteen inches of the deck, which served to intercept the steam from the coppers, and prevent it, as before, from curling along the beams, and condensing upon them into drops.