I9I1] LIFE AT HUT POINT 153 



walks abroad. The hill climbing gives excellent exercise — we 

 shall miss much of it at Cape Evans. But I am anxious to get 

 back and see that all is well at the latter, as for a long time I 

 have been wondering how our beach has withstood the shocks 

 of northerly winds. The thought that the hut may have been 

 damaged by the sea in one of the heavy storms will not be 

 banished. 



A Sketch of the Life at Hut Point 



We gather around the fire seated on packing-cases to re- 

 ceive them with a hunk of butter and a steaming pannikin of 

 tea, and life is well worth living. After lunch we are out and 

 about again; there is little to tempt a long stay indoors and 

 exercise keeps us all the fitter. 



The falling light and approach of supper drives us home 

 again with good appetites about 5 or 6 o'clock, and then the 

 cooks rival one another in preparing succulent dishes of fried 

 seal liver. A single dish may not seem to offer much opportunity 

 of variation, but a lot can be done with a little flour, a handful 

 of raisins, a spoonful of curry powder, or the addition of a little 

 boiled pea meal. Be this as it may, we never tire of our dish 

 and exclamations of satisfaction can be heard every night — or 

 nearly every night, for two nights ago [April 4] Wilson, who 

 has proved a genius in the invention of ' plats,' almost ruined 

 his reputation. He proposed to fry the seal liver in penguin 

 blubber, suggesting that the latter could be freed from all 

 rankness. The blubber was obtained and rendered down with 

 great care, the result appeared as delightfully pure fat free from 

 smell; but appearances were deceptive; the ' fry ' proved redo- 

 lent of penguin, a concentrated essence of that peculiar flavour 

 which faintly lingers in the meat and should not be emphasised. 

 Three heroes got through their pannikins, but the rest of us 

 decided to be contented with cocoa and biscuit after tasting the 

 first mouthful. After supper we have an hour or so of smoking 

 and conversation — a cheering, pleasant hour — in which reminis- 

 cences are exchanged by a company which has very literally had 

 world-wide experience. There is scarce a country under the sun 

 which one or another of us has not travelled in, so diverse are 

 our origins and occupations. An hour or so after supper we 

 tail off one by one, spread out our sleeping-bags, take off our 



