154 SCOTT'S LAST EXPEDITION [April 



shoes and creep into comfort, for our reindeer bags are really 

 warm and comfortable now that they have had a chance of 

 drying, and the hut retains some of the heat generated in it. 

 Thanks to the success of the blubber lamps and to a fair supply 

 of candles, we can muster ample light to read for another hour 

 or two, and so tucked up in our furs we study the social and 

 political questions of the past decade. 



We muster no less than sixteen. Seven of us pretty well 

 cover the floor of one wing of the L-shaped enclosure, four 

 sleep in the other wing, which also holds the store, whilst the 

 remaining five occupy the annexe and affect to find the colder 

 temperature more salubrious. Everyone can manage eight or 

 nine hours' sleep without a break, and not a few would have 

 little difficulty in sleeping the clock round, which goes to show 

 that our extremely simple life is an exceedingly healthy one, 

 though with faces and hands blackened with smoke, appearances 

 might not lead an outsider to suppose it. 



Sunday, April 9, A.M. — On Friday night it grew overcast and 

 the wind went to the south. During the whole of yesterday 

 and last night it blew a moderate blizzard — the temperature at 

 highest + 5°, a relatively small amount of drift. On Friday 

 night the ice in the Strait went out from a line meeting the shore 

 % mile north of Hut Point. A crack off Hut Point and curving 

 to N.W. opened to about 15 or 20 feet, the opening continuing 

 on the north side of the Point. It is strange that the ice thus 

 opened should have remained. 



Ice cleared out to the north directly wind commenced — it 

 didn't wait a single instant, showing that our journey over it 

 earlier in the day was a very risky proceeding — the uncertainty 

 of these conditions is beyond words, but there shall be no more 

 of this foolish venturing on young ice. This decision seems to 

 put off the return of the ponies to a comparatively late date. 



Yesterday went to the second crater, Arrival Heights, hoping 

 to see the condition of the northerly bays, but could see little or 

 nothing owing to drift. A white line dimly seen on the horizon 

 seemed to indicate that the ice drifted out has not gone far. 



Some skuas were seen yesterday, a very late date. The 

 seals disinclined to come on the ice; one can be seen at Cape 

 Armitage this morning, but it is two or three days since there 



