We therefore began this day to collect stones
for ballast, of which it was calculated that the Hecla would
require in the spring nearly seventy tons, besides twenty tons of
additional water, to make up for the loss of weight by the
expenditure of provisions and stores. These stones were brought
down on sledges about half a mile to the beach, where they were
broken into a convenient size for stowage, and then weighed in
scales erected on the beach for the purpose; thus affording to the
men a considerable quantity of bodily exercise whenever the
weather would permit them to be so employed.

The distance at which sounds were heard in the open air, during
the continuance of intense cold, was so great as constantly to
afford matter of surprise to us, notwithstanding the frequency
with which we had occasion to remark it. We have, for instance,
often heard people distinctly conversing, in a common tone of
voice, at the distance of a mile; and to-day I heard a man singing
to himself as he walked along the beach, at even a greater
distance than this. Another circumstance also occurred to-day,
which may perhaps be considered as worthy of notice. Lieutenant
Beechey, and Messrs. Beverly and Fisher, in the course of a walk
which led them to a part of the harbour, about two miles directly
to leeward of the ships, were surprised by suddenly perceiving a
smell of smoke, so strong as even to impede their breathing, till,
by walking on a little farther, they got rid of it. This
circumstance shows to what a distance the smoke from the ships was
carried horizontally, owing to the difficulty with which it rises
at a very low temperature of the atmosphere.

From four P.M. on the 14th till half past seven on the following
morning, being an interval of fifteen hours and a half, during
which time the weather was clear and nearly calm, a thermometer,
fixed on a pole between the ships and the shore, never rose above
-54 deg., and was once during that interval, namely, at six in the
morning, as low as -55 deg. During the lowest temperature above
mentioned, which was the most intense degree of cold marked by the
spirit-thermometer during our stay in Winter Harbour, not the
slightest inconvenience was suffered from exposure to the open air
by a person well clothed, as long as the weather was perfectly
calm; but, in walking against a very light air of wind, a smart
sensation was experienced all over the face, accompanied by a pain
in the middle