I902] DEBATES 225 



methods by which we can get some notion of the snowfall and 

 evaporation in our region ; while with regard to seals and pen- 

 guins, we feel there is yet much to be learned as to their winter 

 habits, their breeding, and their migrations. In fact, our dis- 

 cussions, whilst helping to elucidate minor points in the 

 problems in debate, have served to set those problems more 

 clearly before us, and to indicate the manner in which we may 

 hope to arrive at their solution. People are so very genuinely 

 interested in all this that I think the lapse of enthusiasm in the 

 debates arises merely from the knowledge that we can only 

 hope to throw more light on the subjects by further exploration 

 and observation. 



' The non-technical nights are of course devoted entirely to 

 amusement, and the subjects selected accordingly are such as 

 to encourage the most startling statements and lines of argu- 

 ment; thus we have had "The Trade of the Empire," 

 " Conscription," &c., subjects on which, without knowing any- 

 thing, everyone can talk. Needless to say, such debates 

 generally end in more or less of an uproar. 



'The day's routine for the officers gives four clear hours 

 before tea and three after; during these hours all without 

 exception are busily employed except for the hour or more 

 devoted to exercise ; the best time for this is now about noon, 

 but during the very dark days the moon was a potent influence 

 in fixing the time. In this, as in other matters, I have endea- 

 voured to avoid all irksome rules and regulations. The officers 

 are only too eager to go out for a breath of fresh air ; the men 

 have outside employment in fetching ice, tending their dogs, 

 taking observations, &c., and in fine weather need no spur to 

 be out and about with a football or on ski ; the only class for 

 which it has been necessary to make special arrangements are 

 the cooks and domestics, whose duties are apt to tie them to 

 the ship. 



' My own time is taken up in organising the spring sledging, 

 drafting instructions, calculating weights, searching up references, 

 &c. ; it would be difficult for an outsider to understand what a 

 mass of detail this lands one in. I try also to keep touch with 



VOL. I. Q 



