40 THE VOYAGE OF THE 'DISCOVERY' [Dec. 



water. When it becomes at all thick or gloomy the rocks 

 stand out and the white, snowy surfaces recede, giving rise to 

 curious optical illusions. The high, curiously shaped rocky 

 patches seem to be suspended in mid-air ; there was one a few 

 days ago, long and flat in shape, which appeared to be so 

 wholly unsupported that it was named " Mahomet's Coffin," 

 but when the weather cleared we could see that the snow about 

 it was really closer than the rock itself. 



' Wilson is the most indefatigable person. When it is fine 

 and clear, at the end of our fatiguing days he will spend two 

 or three hours seated in the door of the tent sketching each 

 detail of the splendid mountainous coast-scene to the west. 

 His sketches are most astonishingly accurate ; I have tested 

 his proportions by actual angular measurement and found them 

 correct. If the fine weather continues we shall at least have a 

 unique record of this coastline. But these long hours in the 

 glare are very bad for the eyes ; we have all suffered a good 

 deal from snow-blindness of late, though we generally march 

 with goggles, but Wilson gets the worst bouts, and I fear it is 

 mainly due to his sketching. 



'"Wolf" was the victim to-night. I cannot say "poor 

 * Wolf,' " for he has been a thorn in the flesh, and has scarcely 

 pulled a pound the whole journey. We have fifteen dogs left, 

 and have decided to devote our energies to the preservation of 

 the nine best ; we have done nearly eight miles to-day, but at 

 such an expenditure of energy that I am left in doubt as to 

 whether we should not have done better without any dogs 

 at all.' 



^December 20. — . . . Poor "Grannie" has been ailing for 

 some time. She dropped to-day. We put her on the sledge, 

 hoping she might recover, and there she breathed her last ; 

 she will last the others three days. It is little wonder that we 

 grow more and more sick of our dog-driving. 



' The sky has been overcast with low stratus cloud, but it is 

 wonderfully clear below ; we have had this sort of weather for 

 some time. One looks aloft and to the east and finds the 

 outlook dull and apparently foggy, when it is surprising to turn 



