By two o'clock we were dispersed once more to our various works and
duties. If it was bearable outside, the hut would soon be empty save for
the cook and a couple of seamen washing up the plates; otherwise every
one went out to make the most of any glimmering of daylight which still
came to us from the sun below the northern horizon. And here it may be
explained that whereas in England the sun rises more or less in the east,
is due south at mid-day, and sets in the west, this is not the case in
the Antarctic regions. In the latitude in which we now lived the sun is
at his highest at mid-day in the north, at his lowest at midnight in the
south. As is generally known he remains entirely above the horizon for
four months of the summer (October-February) and entirely below the
horizon for four months in the winter (April 21-August 21). About
February 27, the end of summer, he begins to set and rise due south at
midnight; the next day he sets a little earlier and dips a little deeper.
During March and April he is going deeper and deeper every day, until, by
the middle of April, he is set all the time except for just a peep over
the northern horizon at mid-day, which is his last farewell before he
goes away.
The reverse process takes place from August 21 onwards. On this date the
sun just peeped above the sea to the north of our hut.
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