262 THE VOYAGE OF THE 'DISCOVERY' [July 



this surplus grease with blubber still greater economy could be 

 achieved, and in the end comparatively firm candles were 

 made containing two parts of blubber to one of the original 

 composition. Such are the teachings of adversity ! 



' The subjects of illumination and paraffin lead me naturally 

 enough to consider the question of fire, which at first gave me 

 some anxiety, and the adequacy of our pumps to meet this 

 important contingency. During the summer cruise the ship 

 continued to leak, the main hold slightly, the fore peak rapidly ; 

 this leakage continued for some time after we were frozen in, 

 but gradually, as the ice thickened around the ship, it dimin- 

 ished until finally it practically ceased. But our experience 

 with the pumps in relieving the leak was sufficient to show their 

 defects. Whilst the temperature was high they acted well, but 

 when it fell they froze solid immediately after use, and to be 

 brought into action again they had to be opened up and 

 thawed out with a blow-lamp, a task which occupied from 

 twenty minutes to half-an-hour. Obviously it would be futile 

 to rely on such pumps for coping with a fire during the winter, 

 and I could see no possible object in keeping open a firehole 

 in the ice on the vain supposition that we should then have 

 water at our disposal. Consequently, I had to consider the 

 possibility of fighting a fire without water. Some reflection 

 showed me that with a few precautions the risk of fire would 

 be reduced to a minimum, and that if in spite of these it should 

 break out, the strong probability was that it would be dis- 

 covered at once. 



' In the living-spaces safety lies in the fact that they are 

 always occupied ; with the additional safeguard of a box of 

 earth it may be granted that a fire could not make any headway 

 in these parts. On the rare occasions when people work in the 

 holds or other parts there is always a responsible officer in 

 charge, as well as the most stringent regulations with regard to 

 lights. In the engine-room it would be very difficult to start a 

 fire, and an officer goes round after working-hours to see that 

 all is in order. Should fire occur despite such precautions our 

 best means of coping with it would be to stifle it with fur and 



