^91 1] PERSONAL HARMONY 189 



Sunday, May 14. Grey and dull in the morning. 



Exercised the ponies and held the usual service. This morn- 

 ing I gave Wright some notes containing speculations on the 

 amount of ice on the Antarctic continent and on the effects of 

 winter movements in the sea ice. I want to get into his head 

 the larger bearing of the problems which our physical investi- 

 gations involve. He needs two years here to fully realise these 

 things, and with all his intelligence and energy will produce little 

 unless he has that extended experience. 



The sky cleared at noon, and this afternoon I walked over 

 the North Bay to the ice cliffs such a very beautiful afternoon 

 and evening the scene bathed in moonlight, so bright and 

 pure as to be almost golden, a very wonderful scene. At such 

 times the Bay seems strangely homely, especially when the eye 

 rests on our camp with the hut and lighted windows. 



I am very much impressed with the extraordinary and gen- 

 eral cordiality of the relations which exist amongst our people. 

 I do not suppose that a statement of the real truth, namely, 

 that there is no friction at all, will be credited it is so gen- 

 erally thought that the many rubs of such a life as this are 

 quietly and purposely sunk in oblivion. With me there is no 

 need to draw a veil; there is nothing to cover. There are no 

 strained relations in this hut, and nothing more emphatically 

 evident than the universally amicable spirit which is shown on all 

 occasions. 



Such a state of affairs would be delightfully surprising under 

 any conditions, but it is much more so when one remembers the 

 diverse assortment of our company. 



This theme is worthy of expansion. To-night Oates, cap- 

 tain in a smart cavalry regiment, has been ' scrapping ' over 

 chairs and tables with Debenham, a young Australian student. 



It is a triumph to have collected such men. 



The temperature has been down to 23 , the lowest yet 

 recorded here doubtless we shall soon get lower, for I find 

 an extraordinary difference between this season as far as it has 

 gone and those of 1902-3. 



