100 SCOTT'S LAST EXPEDITION [Juny 
pletely. We cleared the shaft, but as our chimney was buried in 
drift, we could get no draught for the blubber fire, so we had to 
build the chimney up with seal skin and snow blocks. All this 
time the drift was perfectly blinding, although the stars were 
showing overhead. 
That evening we had another ‘no air’ scare, the primus 
going out and lamps burning dimly until we had made air holes 
with bamboos. I see we shall have to be careful in these 
snowstorms. 
July 8.—Still blowing hard, but not so much drift. We had 
an awful job digging out, as the drift over our door was packed 
quite hard. This storm has added 2 or 3 feet of hard snow to 
our drift. It has made the hut much warmer, but has buried 
our outside meat depot, and Priestley and I have been trying all 
day to find it without success. 
July 10.—A ‘ Red Letter’ day. As I was walking down to 
Look Out Point I saw a seal up. It was getting late, so I re- 
turned for the knives, and taking Abbott and Browning with 
me, we ran down and found 2 fat seals. 
Abbott had only a short-handled ice-axe with him and had 
a job to stun his seal. He made several mis-hits, and finally, as 
the seal was making for the edge, he jumped on its back and 
gave it a blow on the nose that stunned it. Abbott then got out 
his knife and tried to stick the seal, but the handle was greasy, 
and his hands cold, and they slipped up the blade, cutting three 
fingers badly, so that I had to send him back to the hut, where 
he arrived feeling very faint from loss of blood. It was quite 
dark when Browning and I finished cutting up the seals. They 
were in good condition, the blubber being very thick. It was 
quite late by the time we got back, but we were able to have a 
big hoosh, and we shall no longer have to be on half rations of 
seal meat. We were running things uncomfortably close before. 
We had six lumps of sugar in honour of the occasion. 
July 12.—Abbott’s fingers are badly hurt. Levick is afraid 
the tendons are cut and that he will not be able to bend them 
again. 
Browning and Dickason went for a walk to-day and killed 
2 fat seals they found, so we had another double hoosh. The 
rest of us spent to-day and yesterday depoting the meat from the 
first two seals. 
