26 SCOTT’S | LAST EXPEDITION [Juuy 
skins up, and then by climbing on Bowers’ back I also got up; 
but no amount of combined pulling would lift Bowers, as the 
rope only cut and jammed into the overhanging cliff of ice. He, 
however, hunted round till he found a place where he helped him- 
self up by cutting steps while we hauled at the same time. It 
took a little time, but at last we were all up, and at once started 
back by the way we had come in a very failing light. Bowers had 
unfortunately got one leg into a crack in the sea ice, and his 
crampon, finnesko and socks became frozen into a solid mass. 
Had we been able to bring the sledge along to this point the ice » 
foot would have given us no difficulty at all, but we had left it 
behind at the manhole. [A whole procession of Emperors came 
round just as they were coming back from the floe. | 
The small number of Emperor penguins collected here at 
this time is surprising. There were not more than 100 birds, and 
without forcing all of them to abandon their eggs it was impos- 
sible to guess how many had laid or were incubating. It looked 
to me as though every fourth or fifth bird had an egg, but this is 
only a guess and may be quite wrong, though I am certain that 
there were more birds without eggs than with eggs. Why there 
should be so few birds here this July, when there were so many 
more here in September and October ten years ago, is difficult to 
understand. The examination of the three eggs we have brought 
back with us may throw some light on the question. They may 
have only just begun to lay, and these may have been the earliest 
arrivals. Others may yet arrive in numbers and lay this year. 
Another possible explanation is that the ice has not remained 
in, and that the rookery has been dissipated lately; and some 
support is lent to this possibility by the absence of all snow drifts 
on to the sea ice from the ice foot. 
I see no way of deciding this question except by another Visit 
to the rookery—either this year in September or October—or 
next year, preferably in August. The most valuable work prob- 
ably could be done in August, and a visit would be much facili- 
tated if by any possibility some supply of oil and food could be 
left at the Adélie penguin rookery by the ship during the coming 
summer. But I am not blind to the difficulties there may be in 
her doing this. 
A very interesting fact we saw at the rookery this time was 
that these birds are so anxious to incubate an egg that they will 
