356 THE VOYAGE OF THE 'DISCOVERY' [Sept. 



have in their most concrete form the greater part of those 

 elements which go to disturb the rest of man. 



We start to count those imaginary sheep jumping over 

 their imaginary hurdles for the hundredth time as the shivering 

 lessens. The last half-hour has brought a change ; we are no 

 longer encased with ice. There are signs of a thaw ; above 

 and below the bag is less rocky ; it is becoming damp and 

 coldly clammy, but it covers us better. There is just a sus- 

 picion of somnolence, when suddenly the whole bag is shaken 

 violently and we hear the most harrowing groans. It is only 

 another attack of the cramp, an enemy that is never far away. 

 We try to sympathise with the victim as we start the sheep 

 jumping afresh. 



And so this wearisome night passes on, with its round of 

 trivial detail and its complete absence of peace and comfort. 

 It was the same last night, and it will be the same to-morrow. 



It is not an exaggeration to say that we dreaded these 

 nights, yet it is worthy of record that none passed without a 

 jest ; the more cheerless and uncomfortable the conditions 

 became, the more light-hearted grew the men. 



I have mentioned only some of their ills. Besides cramp, 

 cold feet, and general discomfort, many were attacked by 

 rheumatism ; later, snow-blindness intervened. Another great 

 source of trouble was indigestion and heartburn. I, with 

 several others, had never known this ailment under ordinary 

 conditions, but during the earlier sledging days it attacked us 

 most fiercely. Also, of course, frost-bites were common, with 

 painfully blistered faces and hands ; feet were likewise blistered 

 on the long, fatiguing marches. 



To all these ills were our sailors regularly and constantly 

 exposed on their sledge journeys, and not only did they hate 

 to forego their share, but never an evil fell on them but they 

 made so light of it that one would have thought they were 

 engaged in the most humorous occupation imaginable. Their 

 conversation either on the journey or after their return could 

 have conveyed only one impression — that the whole thing was 

 a glorified picnic. It was not that the jokes were of a high 



