68 THE VOYAGE OF THE 'DISCOVERY' Qan. 



sunk like the rest from sheer exhaustion, but with no one by 

 to give him the last merciful quietus ; " Joe " was sacrificed for 

 the common good to-night. It is fortunate that numbers will 

 not permit these massacres to continue much longer; yet, after 

 all, one cannot help being struck with the extraordinary and 

 merciful lack of intelligence that these beasts display in such 

 tragic moments. We have had the most impressive examples 

 of this. 



' When a decree has gone forth against any poor wretch, it 

 has been our custom to lead him some way to the rear of the 

 sledges and there, of course, to put an end to him as painlessly 

 as possible. As the intended victim has been led away, the 

 rest of the team have known at once what is going to happen, 

 and as far as their feeble state has allowed they have raised the 

 same chorus of barks as they used to do when they knew that 

 we were going to fetch their food. Of course the cause is 

 precisely the same ; they know in some way that this means 

 food. But the astonishing fact is that the victim himself has 

 never known : he has always followed willingly with his tail 

 wagging, evidently under the impression that he is going to be 

 taken to the place where the food comes from, nor, until the 

 last, has he ever shown the least suspicion of his end. 



' Thus we have seen an animal howling with joy at seeing 

 his comrade led to the slaughter, and the next night going on 

 the same road himself with every sign of pleasure ; it has a 

 distinctly pathetic side, but it is good to know clearly that they 

 have not the intelligence to anticipate their fate. 



' I have used the pronoun " we " above, but I must confess 

 that I personally have taken no part in the slaughter ; it is a 

 moral cowardice of which I am heartily ashamed, and I know 

 perfectly well that my companions hate the whole thing as 

 much as I do. At the first this horrid duty was performed by 

 Wilson, because it was tacitly agreed that he would be by far 

 the most expert ; and later, when I was perfectly capable of 

 taking a share, I suppose I must have shrunk from it so 

 obviously that he, with his usual self-sacrifice, volunteered to 

 do the whole thing throughout. And so it has been arranged. 



