400 THE VOYAGE OF THE 'DISCOVERY' [Oct. 



' October i5.^The determination to have everything above 

 suspicion, and not to give our dread enemy another chance to 

 break out, has kept all hands pretty busy of late. 



'With the idea of giving everyone on the mess-deck a 

 change of air in turn, we have built up a space in the main hut 

 by packing cases around the stove. In this space each mess 

 are to live for a week ; they have breakfast and dinner on 

 board, but are allowed to cook their supper in the hut. The 

 present occupants enjoy this sort of picnic-life immensely. 



' We have had a thorough clearance of the holds, dis- 

 infected the bilges, whitewashed the sides, and generally made 

 them sweet and clean. 



' As a next step I tackled the clothes and hammocks. One 

 knows how easily garments collect, and especially under such 

 conditions as ours ; however, they have all been cleared out 

 now, except those actually in use. The hammocks and 

 bedding I found quite dry and comfortable, but we have had 

 them all thoroughly aired. We have cleared all the deck-lights 

 so as to get more daylight below, and we have scrubbed the 

 decks and cleaned out all the holes and corners until every- 

 thing is as clean as a new pin. I am bound to confess there 

 was no very radical change in all this ; we found very little 

 dirt, and our outbreak cannot possibly have come from in- 

 sanitary conditions of living ; our men are far too much alive 

 to their own comfort for that. But now we do everything for 

 the safe side, and from the conviction that one cannot be too 

 careful. 



' We have had great difficulties in trying to live on fresh 

 meat alone, as our stock of seal-meat had run short. It is not 

 easy to supply so large a company ; a large seal barely lasts 

 two days at the present rate of consumption. Just as our 

 stock ran out, one or two seals happened to come up on the 

 ice close to the ship, and these kept us going until, at W^ilson's 

 suggestion, we organised a large seal-killing party to go further 

 afield. This party, consisting of Barne, Wilson, and four 

 men, girt about with knives and other murderous implements, 

 journeyed away to the norlli with all the^dogs on Thursday (9th) ; 



