2o6 THE VOYAGE OF THE 'DISCOVERY' [April 



other observations were added as we gradually came to see our 

 way more clearly and took our winter walks abroad. One had 

 only to walk a few hundred yards from the ship to get sight of 

 the smoking summit of Erebus, and we soon saw that the 

 direction of movement of its vapour afforded us the most 

 excellent indication of the upper air currents, and few days 

 passed without some recorded observation of this fine beacon. 



Later, too, our energetic walkers established subsidiary 

 observatories where the temperatures could be taken and com- 

 pared with those read near the ship. We were thus able to 

 get interesting comparisons with observations taken on the top 

 of the highest hill in our neighbourhood, i,o8o feet above us, 

 and with a spot on the other side of Cape Armitage, and 

 therefore more directly affected by the barrier conditions. 



Another routine observation I was anxious to get into 

 working order was that of the tide, and here we were faced 

 with a good deal of difficulty in attempting to make a gauge 

 which would work successfully through the ice. We had 

 endeavoured to get some observations before the sea froze 

 over, but the long pole which we placed against the ice-foot 

 soon became so crusted with ice that the markings were 

 obscured, and as it was impossible to clear this ice except from 

 a boat, we were not able to get continuous readings. But later 

 on we succeeded in getting a continuous record over a long 

 period ; and as the arrangement was only arrived at after some 

 thought and numerous trials, the method is worth description 

 for the benefit of future explorers who may be similarly 

 situated. 



Our first essay was to take a length of the single pianoforte 

 sounding-wire, of which we carried a great quantity. One end 

 of this was attached to a heavy weight resting on the bottom ; 

 the wire was then taken through a block held up by means of 

 a tripod firmly planted on the ice, and to its other end was 

 attached a second weight having about half the mass of the 

 first. It is evident that with such an arrangement, as the 

 tripod rose and fell with the tide, the upper weight would 

 record its movement, always providing that the wire did not 



