184 ON THE BARRIER 



be regarded as very good. A little swell might set in 

 from time to time and cause some disagreeable bump- 

 ing, but never anything to embarrass the vessel. One 

 very great advantage was that the currents in this 

 corner always set outward, and thus kept off all ice- 

 bergs. The sledging between the ship and the Barrier 

 was done by five men to begin with, as the carpenters 

 were engaged in building the house. One man had also 

 to be told off as tent guard, for we could not use more 

 than half our teams six dogs at a time. If we har- 

 nessed the full team of twelve, we only had trouble and 

 fights. The dogs which were thus left behind had to 

 be looked after, and a man was required for this duty. 

 Another of the duties of the tent guard was to cook the 

 day's food and keep the tent tidy. It was a coveted 

 position, and lots were cast for it. It gave a little 

 variety in the continual sledging. 



On January 17 the carpenters began to dig the 

 foundations of the house. The effect of all we had 

 heard about the Antarctic storms was that we decided 

 to take every possible precaution to make the house stand 

 on an even keel. The carpenters therefore began by 

 digging a foundation 4 feet down into the Barrier. This 

 was not easy work; 2 feet below the surface they came 

 upon hard, smooth ice, and had to use pickaxes. The 

 same day a stiff easterly breeze sprang up, whirling the 

 snow high into the air, and filling up the foundations as 

 fast as the men dug them. But it would take more 



