ANTARCTIC CHRISTMAS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1008, 24 December 1910, Page 11

ANTARCTIC CHRISTMAS.

Christmas Day in 'darkness, and j a' Christmas. turkey ar.d ] plum, pudding! anybody pos-. :j sibly make merry-.' tinder such circum- '! stances? Yet one of. the Polar .espedi- . i tions'.which', wintered in tlie Arctic re- > 'S gions a- lew years ago'managed to enjoy.. '1 the Christmas festival; .though -it : was ; j spent ,in so desolate a snot and in the ' depth of :the • long J2o.!ar", night.' Tho ;j Christmas dinner . consisted ■of "fiske- i gratin (a baked disli of flsh, flour, eggs, i and butter), a saddle, of beef, green peas, j asparagus, stewed cloud berries and rice, and. coffee 'and cakes/' - Captain Svco'rup, - ; in command of the exnedition, writes.in j ,his narrative: "When the Christmas tree was brought, in cverj'body was . quite : silent for a moment. 'Asstood there,; with its glittering gold end', silver tinsel j and its red and white candles■ in the j midst, of our '-darkness, it' seemed to bo a -] greeting from homo and from above. It j seemed as if 'we were being told- that.. . there was.still.life and that the light was - not really gone. ■. Wo thought that wo J . were sitting amid o.uv .dear ones and; could } take .them by the-.hand. Itiwas'as if r j happy thoughts had been'ssnt to''us, and ; then we had to shout 'for; joy and .make : more, noise than the wolves howlihg. ouk'•' ! side in the. snow." 'j