44 THE VOYAGE OF THE 'DISCOVERY' [Dec. 



small piece of seal-meat, half a biscuit, and eight to ten lumps 

 of sugar. Each of us keeps a small bag which, when it contains 

 the precious luncheon, is stowed away in the warmth of a 

 breast-pocket, where it thaws out during the first march. 

 Absurd as it may sound, it is terribly difficult not to filch from 

 this bag during the hours of the march. We have become 

 absolutely childish in this. We know so perfectly the contents 

 of the bags that one will find oneself arguing that to-day's piece 

 of seal is half an inch longer than yesterday's ; ergo^ if one 

 nibbles half an inch off, one will still have the same lunch as 

 yesterday. 



' Supper is of course the best meal ; we then have a hoosh 

 which runs from between three-quarters to a whole pannikin 

 apiece, but even at this we cannot afford to make it thick. 

 AVhilst it is being heated in the central cooker, cocoa is made 

 in the outer. The lamp is turned out directly the hoosh boils, 

 usually from twenty-eight to thirty minutes after it has been 

 lighted ; by this time the chill is barely oiT the contents of the 

 outer cooker, and of course the cocoa is not properly dissolved, 

 but such as it is, it is the only drink we can afford. We have 

 long ceased criticising the quality of our food ; all we clamour 

 for now is something to fill up, but, needless to say, we never 

 get it. Half an hour after supper one seems as hard set 

 as ever. 



'My companions get very bad "food dreams"; in fact, 

 these have become the regular breakfast conversation. It 

 appears to be a sort of nightmare ; they are either sitting at 

 a well-spread table with their arms tied, or they grasp at a dish 

 and it slips out of their hand, or they are in the act of lifting a 

 dainty morsel to their mouth when they fall over a precipice. 

 Whatever the details may be, something interferes at the last 

 moment and they wake. So far, I have not had these dreams 

 myself, but I suppose they will come. 



'When we started from the ship we had a sort of idea that 

 we could go as we pleased with regard to food, hauling in 

 automatically if things were going too fast ; but we soon found 

 that this would not do at all — there must be some rigid system 



