The fine and temperate weather with which the month of April had concluded, induced Captain Sabine to set the clocks going, in order to commence his observations for the pendulum, and he now took up his quarters entirely on shore for that purpose. On the first of May, however, it blew a strong gale from the northward, which made it impossible to keep up the desired temperature in the house: and so heavy was the snowdrift, that in a few hours the house was nearly covered, and we were obliged to communicate with Captain Sabine and his attendants through a small window, from which the snow was, with much labour, cleared away, the door being quite inaccessible. We saw the sun at midnight for the first time this season.
The gale and snowdrift continued on the following day, when we had literally to dig out the sentries, who attended the fire at the house, in order to have them relieved.
On the 6th, the thermometer rose no higher than +8½° during the day; but, as the wind was moderate, and it was high time to endeavour to get the ships once more fairly afloat, we commenced the operation of cutting the ice about them. In order to prevent the men suffering from wet and cold feet, a pair of strong boots and boot-stockings were on this occasion served to each.
On the 15th, two or three coveys of ptarmigan were seen, after which they became more and more numerous, and a brace or two were almost daily procured for the sick, for whose use they were exclusively reserved. As it was of the utmost importance, under our present circumstances, that every ounce of game which we might thus procure should be served in lieu of other meat, I now renewed the orders formerly given, that every animal killed was to be considered as public property; and, as such, to be regularly issued like any other kind of provision, without the slightest distinction between the messes of the officers and those of the ships' companies.
Some of our men having, in the course of their shooting excursions, been exposed for several hours to the glare of the sun and snow, returned at night much affected with that painful inflammation in the eyes occasioned by the reflection of intense light from the snow, aided by the warmth of the sun, and called in America "snow blindness." This complaint, of which the sensation exactly resembles that produced by large particles of sand or dust in the eyes, is cured by some tribes of American Indians by holding them over the steam of warm water; but we found a cooling wash, made by a small quantity of acetate of lead mixed with cold water, more efficacious in relieving the irritation, which was always done in three or four days, even in the most severe cases, provided the eyes were carefully guarded from the light. As a preventive of this complaint, a piece of black crape was given to each man, to be worn as a kind of short veil attached to the hat, which we found to be very serviceable. A still more convenient mode, adopted by some of the officers, was found equally efficacious; this consisted in taking the glasses out of a pair of spectacles, and substituting black or green crape, the glass having been found to heat the eyes and increase the irritation.