6 THE VOYAGE OF THE 'DISCOVERY' [Oct. 



were able to make shift to dry their equipment and to look out 

 on the scene about them. When they had arrived the whole 

 Ross Sea had been frozen over as far as their eyes could see, 

 and now they gazed on a sheet of open water. Not a scrap of 

 ice remained in sight, except in the bay to which Skelton had 

 directed his footsteps at an early hour ; in this bay the ice 

 still hung, and it was doubtless the permanency of this sheet 

 which had caused the Emperor penguins to adopt it as a 

 breeding-place. 



For Skelton had not been deceived in his observation : on 

 reaching the sea-ice in this bay, after a stiff climb over the 

 high-pressure ridges, he found again his colony of Emperors, 

 numbering some four hundred, and, to his delight, amongst 

 them several that were nursing chicks. 



Upon the great interest of this find, and upon the many 

 important notes which were made concerning the colony, both 

 at this time and at a later date, I will not dwell, as these facts 

 are dealt with in the excellent appendix which our zoologist, 

 Dr. Wilson, has contributed to this volume, describing the 

 habits of these extraordinary birds far more clearly than I 

 could hope to do ; I will only testify to the joy which greeted 

 this discovery on board the ship. We had felt that this 

 penguin was the truest type of our region. All other birds 

 fled north when the severity of winter descended upon us : the 

 Emperor alone was prepared to face the extremest rigours of 

 our climate : and we gathered no small satisfaction from being 

 the first to throw light on the habits of a creature that so far 

 surpasses in hardihood all others of the feathered tribe. 



Full of their exploits the party started for home on the 

 19th, and, as I have said, reached the ship on the 24th. 



Before the end of the month everything was prepared for 

 the southern journey, instructions for various sledge parties 

 and for the custody of the ship had been given, details of the 

 conduct of affairs had been discussed and rediscussed. Every 

 eventuality seemed to be provided for, and nothing now re- 

 mained but to wait for the date which had been fixed for our 

 departure. 



