176 ON THE BARRIER 



conclusion that a site for the hut was to be looked for 

 on the little elevation that rose to the east. It seemed 

 that we should be more snug there than anywhere else, 

 and we were not mistaken. We soon made up our 

 minds that we had chosen the best place the Barrier had 

 to offer. On the spot where the hut was to stand we 

 set up another ski-pole, and then went home. 



The good news that we had already found a favourable 

 place for the hut naturally caused great satisfaction on 

 all sides. Everyone had been silently dreading the long 

 and troublesome transport over the Ice Barrier. 



There was teeming life on the ice. Wherever we 

 turned we saw great herds of seals Weddells and crab- 

 eaters. The great sea-leopard, which we had seen 

 occasionally on the floes, was not to be found here. 

 During our whole stay in the Bay of Whales we did not 

 see a single specimen of it. Nor did we ever see the 

 Ross seal. Penguins had not shown themselves par- 

 ticularly often, only a few here and there; but we 

 appreciated them all the more. The few we saw were 

 almost all Adelie penguins. While we were at work 

 making the ship fast, a flock of them suddenly 

 shot up out of the water and on to the ice. They 

 looked about them in surprise for a moment: men 

 and ships do not come their way every day. But it 

 seemed as if their astonishment soon gave way to a 

 desire to see what was happening. They positively sat 

 and studied all our movements. Only now and then 



