1 86 SCOTT'S LAST EXPEDITION [May 



JFednesday, May lo. — It has been blowing from the South 

 12 to 20 miles per hour since last night; the ice remains fast. 

 The temperature - 12° to - 19'. The party does not come. 

 I Avent well beyond Inaccessible Island till Hut Point and Castle 

 Rock appeared beyond Tent Island, that is, well out on the 

 space which was last seen as open water. The ice is 9 inches 

 thick, not much for eight or nine days' freezing; but it is very 

 solid — the surface wet but very slippery. I suppose Meares 

 waits for 12 inches in thickness, or fears the floe is too slippery 

 for the ponies. 



Yet I wish he would come. 



I took a thermometer on my walk to-day; the temperature 

 was — 12"^ inside Inaccessible Island, but only —8^ on the sea 

 ice outside — the wind seemed less outside. Coming in under lee 

 of Island and bergs I was reminded of the difficulty of finding 

 shelter in these regions. The weather side of hills seems to 

 afford better shelter than the lee side, as I have remarked else- 

 where. May it be in part because all lee sides tend to be 

 filled by drift snow, blown and weathered rock debris? There 

 was a good lee under one of the bergs; in one corner the ice 

 sloped out over me and on either side, forming a sort of grotto; 

 here the air w^as absolutely still. 



Pouting gave us an interesting lecture on Burmah, illustrated 

 with fine slides. His descriptive language is florid, but shows the 

 artistic temperament. Bowers and Simpson were able to give 

 personal reminiscences of this land of pagodas, and the discussion 

 led to interesting statements on the religion, art, and education 

 of its people, their philosophic idleness, &c. Our lectures are 

 a real success. 



Friday, May 12. — Yesterday morning was quiet. Played 

 football in the morning; wind got up in the afternoon and 

 evening. 



All day it has been blowing hard, 30 to 60 miles an hour; 

 it has never looked very dark overhead, but a watery cirrus 

 has been in evidence for some time, causing well marked 

 paraselene. 



I have not been far from the hut, but had a great fear on 

 one occasion that the ice had gone out in the Strait. 



The wind is dropping this evening, and I have been up to 

 Wind Vane Hill. I now thini: the ice has remained fast. 



