Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1854-04-27
AN ARCTIC WALK.


Now let US star. out upon walk, cloth.
ed in well-fashioned Arctic costume. The
thermometer is, say 25 deg, not lower,
the wind blowing royal breeze, but gently.
Close the lips for the first minute or two,
and admit the air suspici ousIy through nos
'ril end musiache. Presently you breathe
a dry, pungenl, but gracious and agreeable at
mosphere. The beard, eyebrows, eyelashes
and the downy pubescence of the ears ac-
quire delicate white, and perfectly evelop-
ing cover Of venerable hoar frost. The
mus'sche and under lip form pendulous
beads Of angling ice. Put out your tongue,
and 1t Instantly freezes in this icy crus,ing
and rapid effort, end some hand aid will
be required to ibcra,e it. The less you
talk the better. Your chin has trick Of
freezing to your upper jaw by the lu'ing
aid Of your beard even my eyes have Of
ten been SO glued as to show that even @
wink may be unsafe. As you walk on,
You find the iron-work of your gun begins
10 penetrate through two coats Of woolen
mlttens, " ilh sensation like hot water.
But we have been suPposing your back to
the wind !; and if you are good Arctised
SUBJECT, warm low has already been fol-
lowed by proluse sweat. Now turn g.
bout and face the wind; what a sudden
change! how the a,mospheres are waited
OIL: how penetrating the cold tickles down
your neck and in a. your pockets. Whew !!
a jack-knife heretofore, like Bob Sawyer's
apple, ''unpleasan,ly warm'' in the breeches
pocket, has changed to something as cold
ss ice and hot as fire make your way back
TO The ship! was once caugh, three miles
off with freshening wind, and at one time
feared that ! would hardly see the brig a.
gain. Morton, who accompanied me had
his cheek frozen, and | felt that lethargic
numbness mentioned in The story books.
| will tell you what this feels like, for
have been twice "caught. out" Sleepness
is no. the sensation. Have you ever re-
celved the shock Of a magneto-electIic
machine, and had the peculiar benumbing
sensation Of "can'! let Co." extending up 10
your elbow joints? Deprive this of its
paroxysmal character subdue but diAuse
it over every part of the system, and you
have the so-called pleasurable feelings Of
incipient freezing. 1t seems even to extend
to your brain. lis inertia is augmented;
everything about you seems of ponderous
sort; and the whole amount of pleasure is
in gratifying the disposition to remain a,
rest, and spare yourself an encounter with
these latent resislances. This is, suppose
The pleasurable sleePiness of the story
books
could fll'page after page with the ludic-
rous miseries Of our ship-board life. We
have two climates, hygrometrically as we'll
as ihermelrically at opposite ends Of the
scale. A pocke, handke erchief, pocketed be-
low in the region of stoves, comes up un-
changed. Go below again, and it becomes
moist, facciC and almost wet. Go on deck
again.. and it resembles a shingle covered
with linen. could pick my teeth with it.
You are anxious TO know how ! stand
this remorseless temperature. ]! is short
story, and perhaps worth the telling. "The
Doctor" still retains three luxuries, rem
nants of better ,mes,-silk mex, his skin,
toothbrush for his teeth, and white linen
for his nose. Everything else is arctic and
hairy,-fur, fur, fur. The silk is ligh! and
washable, needing neither the clean dirt Of
starch, nor the uncomfortable trouble Of
fat-irons. !! secures clean skin between
my epidermoid and seal-skin inlegumen.s.
Kane's .Arctic Expedition.