1 88 SCOTT'S LAST EXPEDITION [May 



Half an hour later Day, Lashly, Nelson, Forde, and Keo- 

 hane arrived with the two ponies — men and animals in good 

 form. 



It is a great comfort to have the men and dogs back, and 

 a greater to contemplate all the ten ponies comfortably stabled 

 for the winter. Everything seems to depend on these animals. 



I have not seen the meteorological record brought back, but 

 it appears that the party had had very fine calm weather since 

 we left them, except during the last three days when wind has 

 been very strong. It is curious that we should only have got 

 one day with wind. 



I am promised the sea-freezing record to-morrow. Four 

 seals were got on April 22, the day after we left, and others 

 have been killed since, so that there is a plentiful supply of 

 blubber and seal meat at the hut — the rest of the supplies seem 

 to have been pretty well run out. Some more forage had been 

 fetched in from the depot. A young sea leopard had been 

 killed on the sea ice near Castle Rock three days ago, this being 

 the second only found in the Sound. 



It is a strange fact that none of the returning party seem 

 to greatly appreciate the food luxuries they have had since their 

 return. It would have been the same with us had we not had 

 a day or two in tents before our return. It seems more and 

 more certain that a very simple fare is all that is needed here — 

 plenty of seal meat, flour, and fat, with tea, cocoa, and sugar; 

 these are the only real requirements for comfortable existence. 



The temperatures at Hut Point have not been as low as I 

 expected. There seems to have been an extraordinary heat wave 

 during the spell of calm recorded since we left — the thermometer 

 registering little below zero until the wind came, when it fell to 

 - 20°. Thus as an exception we have had a fall instead of 

 a rise of temperature with wind. 



[The exact inventory of stores at Hut Point here recorded 

 has no immediate bearing on the history of the expedition, but 

 may be noted as illustrating the care and thoroughness with 

 which all operations were conducted. Other details as to the 

 carbide consumed in making acetylene gas may be briefly quoted. 

 The first tin was opened on P'ebruary i, the second on March 

 26. The seventh on May 20, the next eight at the average 

 interval of 93^ days.] 



