i84 THE VOYAGE OF THE * DISCOVERY' [Nov. 



It is difficult to describe such a time ; twenty-two hours 

 out of each twenty-four we spent in our sleeping-bags, but 

 regularly in the morning and in the evening we rolled these 

 up, prepared and ate a hot meal, and then once more sought 

 the depths of the bag. To sleep much was out of the question, 

 and I scarcely know how the other long hours went. In our 

 tent we had one book, Darwin's delightful 'Cruise of the 

 " Beagle," ' and sometimes one or another would read this 

 aloud until our freezing fingers refused to turn the pages. 

 Often we would drop into conversation, but, as can be 

 imagined, the circumstances were not such as to encourage 

 much talking, and most of the commoner topics were thread- 

 bare by the end of the week. Sometimes we would gaze up 

 at the fluttering green canvas overhead, but this was not 

 inspiriting. I find I have written a great deal in my diary, 

 obviously as an occupation ; but the combination of all such 

 things was far from filling a whole day, and therefore for the 

 greater part of the time we lay quite still with our eyes open 

 doing nothing and simply enduring. Communication between 

 tents was only possible in the lulls ; we therefore watched for 

 these eagerly, and in the quietest, rushed round to shout 

 greetings and learn how our comrades fared. 



One task only we were able to perform throughout the 

 time, and that on the first day of our imprisonment, when, 

 thinking all would soon blow over, we hauled our sledges 

 beneath one of the tents and stripped the German silver ready 

 for the onward march. 



At first, of course, we went to sleep each night with the 

 comforting hope that the next morning would see a change for 

 the better ; but as day followed day without improvement, it 

 was impossible to cherish this hope. And yet I do not believe 

 we ever grew despondent ; the feeling that there must be a 

 change if we had the patience to wait, never left us. 



By the fifth day of our imprisonment, however, sleep 

 threatened to desert us, and matters in general began to take a 

 more serious aspect. Our sleeping-bags were getting very icy ; 

 some complained that they could no longer keep their feet 



