CHAPTER VIII 

 HOME IMPRESSIONS AND AN EXCURSION 



Impressions on returning to the Hut, April 13, 191 1 



In choosing the site of the hut on our Home Beach I had 

 thought of the possibility of northerly winds bringing a swell, 

 but had argued, firstly, that no heavy northerly swell had ever 

 been recorded in the Sound; secondly, that a strong northerly 

 wind was bound to bring pack which would damp the swell; 

 thirdly, that the locality was excellently protected by the Barne 

 Glacier, and finally, that the beach itself showed no signs of 

 having been swept by the sea, the rock fragments composing it 

 being completely angular. 



When the hut was erected and I found that its foundation 

 was only 1 1 feet above the level of the sea ice, I had a slight 

 misgiving, but reassured myself again by reconsidering the cir- 

 cumstances that afforded shelter to the beach. 



The fact that such question had been considered makes it 

 easier to understand the attitude of mind that readmitted doubt 

 in the face of phenomenal conditions. 



The event has justified my original arguments, but I must 

 confess a sense of having assumed security without sufficient 

 proof in a case where an error of judgment might have had 

 dire consequences. 



It was not until I found all safe at the Home Station that 

 I realised how anxious I had been concerning it. In a normal 

 season no thought of its having been in danger would have 

 occurred to me, but since the loss of the ponies and the break- 

 ing of the Glacier Tongue I could not rid myself of the fear 

 that misfortune was in the air and that some abnormal swell 

 had swept the beach; gloomy thoughts of the havoc that might 

 have been wrought by such an event would arise in spite of 

 the sound reasons which had originally led me to choose the site 

 of the hut as a safe one. 



