taken for their security, and for the preservation of the various
stores which they contained. A regular system also was adopted, for the
maintenance of good order, cleanliness, and the health of the crews,
during the approaching long, dark, and dreary winter. All the masts,
except the lower ones, were dismantled; and the boats, spars, ropes, and
sails, were removed on shore, in order to give as much room as possible
on the deck. The ropes and sails were all hard frozen, and it was
requisite to keep them in that state, till the return of spring. A
housing of planks, covered with wadding-tilt, such as is used for
stage-waggons, was formed upon the deck of each of the vessels; and thus
constituted a comfortable shelter from the snow and the wind.

The crews were in excellent health, and every care was taken to preserve
it. Regulations were made, in the allowances both of bread and meat: as
a preservative against scurvy, the men were allowed a quantity of
vinegar with their meat, and they, every day, took a portion of
lime-juice and sugar. The next care was for the minds of the men, the
health of which Captain Parry wisely considered to have no small
influence on that of the body. This excellent officer, anxious for their
amusement during the long and tedious interval of winter, proposed, that
a play should occasionally be got up on board the Hecla. He considered
this to be the readiest means of preserving, among the crews, that
cheerfulness and good-humour which had hitherto subsisted. The proposal
was readily seconded by the officers of both ships: Lieutenant Beechey
was consequently elected stage-manager, and the first performance was
fixed for the 5th of November. In order still further to promote
good-humour, and to furnish amusing occupation, a weekly newspaper was
set on foot, called the "North Georgia Gazette, and Winter Chronicle,"
of which Captain Sabine undertook to be the editor, under a promise
that it should be supported by original contributions from the officers
of the two ships.

On the 4th of November the sun sank beneath the horizon, not to appear
again above it for the space of ninety-six days. On the 5th the theatre
was opened, with the farce of "Miss in her Teens;" and Captain Parry
found so much benefit accrue to his men, from the amusement which this
kind of spectacle afforded them, and with the occupation of fitting up
the theatre and taking it down again, that the dramatic representations
were co