1 64 SCOTT'S LAST EXPEDITION [April 



nevertheless he introduced me to this oven with an air of pride 

 which I soon found to be fully justified. For connected there- 

 with was a contrivance for which he was entirely responsible, 

 and which in its ingenuity rivalled any of which the hut could 

 boast. The interior of the oven was so arranged that the 

 ' rising ' of the bread completed an electric circuit, thereby ring- 

 ing a bell and switching on a red lamp. Clissold had realised 

 that the continuous ringing of the bell would not be soothing to 

 the nerves of our party, nor the continuous burning of the lamp 

 calculated to prolong its life, and he had therefore added the 

 clockwork mechanism which automatically broke the circuit after 

 a short interval of time; further, this clockwork mechanism 

 could be made to control the emersion of the same warning 

 signals at intervals of time varied according to the desire of 

 the operator; — thus because, when in bed, he would desire a 

 signal at short periods, but if absent from the hut he would 

 wish to know at a glance what had happened when he returned. 

 Judged by any standard it was a remarkably pretty little device, 

 but when I learnt that it had been made from odds and ends, 

 such as a cog-wheel or spring here and a cell or magnet there, 

 begged from other departments, I began to realise that we had 

 a very exceptional cook. Later when I found that Clissold was 

 called in to consult on the ailments of Simpson's motor and that 

 he was capable of constructing a dog sledge out of packing cases, 

 I was less surprised, because I knew by this time that he had 

 had considerable training in mechanical work before he turned 

 his attention to pots and pans. 



My first impressions Include matters to which I was naturally 

 eager to give an early half-hour, namely the housing of our 

 animals. I found herein that praise was as justly due to our 

 Russian boys as to my fellow Englishmen. 



Anton with Lashly's help had completed the furnishing of 

 the stables. Neat stalls occupied the whole length of the ' lean 

 to,' the sides so boarded that sprawling legs could not be en- 

 tangled beneath and the front well covered with tin sheet to 

 defeat the ' cribbers.' I could but sigh again to think of the 

 stalls that must now remain empty, whilst appreciating that 

 there was ample room for the safe harbourage of the ten beasts 

 that remain, be the winter never so cold or the winds so wild. 



Later we have been able to give double space to all but 



