Page:Works of Jules Verne - Parke - Vol 2.djvu/358

 the heat from escaping, and made a gradual passage from one temperature to another. All wet clothes were put off in these vestibules, and snow scraped from the boots.

A proper provision was made for the admission of air into the stoves, and the fires were carefully regulated. The temperature was kept up at 50°, and the smallest possible amount of coal used, as Hatteras found, on inspecting the bunkers, that, with the severest, most rigid economy, he had only enough for two months longer.

A drying-place was contrived for such clothing as had to be frequently washed, for nothing could be dried in the open air.

The delicate parts of the engine were carefully removed, and the engine-room hermetically closed.

The regulation of the ship life was a matter of serious consideration to Hatteras. At six the men rose, and three times a week their hammocks were carried out into the fresh air. Every morning the planks of the two living rooms were rubbed with hot sand. Boiling tea was served up at each meal, and as much variety as was practicable introduced in the daily bill of fare. The dietary scale included bread, flour, suet, and raisins for puddings; sugar, cocoa, rice, lemon-juice, preserved meat, salt pork and beef, pickled cabbage, and mixed pickles. The kitchen was outside the living rooms; it would have been an addition to the heat to have placed it inside, but the cooking of food is a constant source of evaporation and moisture, so that it would have been a doubtful benefit.

Health is greatly dependent on food, and in high latitudes as much as possible of animal substances requires to be consumed.

"We must take example by the Esquimaux," said the Doctor; "they have been taught by nature, and are apt scholars. Arabs and Africans can live on a few dates and a handful of rice, but here it is important to eat much. An Esquimaux absorbs daily from ten to fifteen pounds of oil. If his fare would not meet your taste, you must replace it by substances which abound in oil and sugar; in a word, you must have carbon and make carbon. It is all well enough to put coals in the stove, but we must not forget we have a stove inside us which needs always replenishing."