i 9 i i] KILLER WHALES 65 



Meares and Demetri are sleeping in the green tent to look after 

 them. A supply of food for ponies and dogs as well as for 

 the men has been landed. Two motor sledges in good working 

 order are safely on the beach. 



A fine record for our first day's work. All hands start 

 again at 6 a.m. to-morrow. 



It's splendid to see at last the effect of all the months of 

 preparation and organisation. There is much snoring about me 

 as I write (2 P.M.) from men tired after a hard day's work and 

 preparing for such another to-morrow. I also must sleep, for 

 I have had none for 48 hours but it should be to dream happily. 



Thursday, January 5. All hands were up at 5 this morning 

 and at work at 6. Words cannot express the splendid way in 

 which everyone works and gradually the work gets organised. 

 I was a little late on the scene this morning, and thereby wit- 

 nessed a most extraordinary scene. Some 6 or 7 killer whales, 

 old and young, were skirting the fast floe edge ahead of the 

 ship; they seemed excited and dived rapidly, almost touching 

 the floe. As we watched, they suddenly appeared astern, raising 

 their snouts out of water. I had heard weird stories of these 

 beasts, but had never associated serious danger with them. Close 

 to the water's edge lay the wire stern rope of the ship, and our 

 two Esquimaux dogs were tethered to this. I did not think 

 of connecting the movements of the whales with this fact, and 

 seeing them so close I shouted to Ponting, who was standing 

 abreast of the ship. He seized his camera and ran towards the 

 floe edge to get a close picture of the beasts, which had mo- 

 mentarily disappeared. The next moment the whole floe under 

 him and the dogs heaved up and split into fragments. One could 

 hear the ' booming ' noise as the whales rose under the ice and 

 struck it with their backs. Whale after whale rose under the 

 ice, setting it rocking fiercely; luckily Ponting kept his feet and 

 was able to fly to security. By an extraordinary chance also, 

 the splits had been made around and between the dogs, so that 

 neither of them fell into the water. Then it was clear that the 

 whales shared our astonishment, for one after another their 

 huge hideous heads shot vertically into the air through the cracks 

 which they had made. As they reared them to a height of 6 

 or 8 feet it was possible to see their tawny head markings, 

 their small glistening eyes, and their terrible array of teeth 



vol. 15 



