AN IMPORTANT OBSERVATION 111 



animals, that devoured everything they came across, 

 even to the ebonite points of our ski-sticks, never made 

 any attempt to break into the provision cases. They 

 lay there and went about among the sledges with their 

 noses just on a level with the split cases, seeing and 

 scenting the pemmican, without once making a sign of 

 taking any. But if one raised a lid, they were not long 

 in showing themselves. Then they all came in a great 

 hurry and flocked about the sledges in the hope of 

 getting a little extra bit. I am at a loss to explain this 

 behaviour; that bashfulness was not at the root of it, I 

 am tolerably certain. 



During the forenoon the thick, grey curtain of cloud 

 began to grow thinner on the horizon, and for the first 

 time for three days we could see a few miles about us. 

 The feeling was something like that one has on waking 

 from a good nap, rubbing one's eyes and looking around. 

 We had become so accustomed to the grey twilight 

 that this positively dazzled us. Meanwhile, the upper 

 layer of air seemed obstinately to remain the same and 

 to be doing its best to prevent the sun from showing 

 itself. We badly wanted to get a meridian altitude, so 

 that we could determine our latitude. Since 86° 47' S. 

 we had had no observation, and it was not easy to say 

 when we should get one. Hitherto, the weather con- 

 ditions on the high ground had not been particularly 

 favourable. Although the prospects were not very 

 promising, we halted at 11 a.m. and made ready to 



