206 SCOTT'S LAST EXPEDITION [June 



necessary under these conditions to temporarily close the venti- 

 lating holes, and if at this time the cook is intent on preparing 

 our breakfast with a frying-pan we are quickly made aware of 

 his intentions. A combination of this sort is rare and lasts only 

 for a very short time, for directly the fire is aglow the ventilator 

 can be opened again and the relief is almost instantaneous. 



This very satisfactory condition of inside air must be a highly 

 important factor in the preservation of health. 



I have to-day regularised the pony ' nicknames ' ; I must 

 leave it to Drake to pull out the relation to the ' proper ' names 

 according to our school contracts ! * 



The nicknames are as follows : 



James Pigg Keohane 



Bones Crean 



Michael Clissold 



Snatcher Evans (P.O.) 



Jehu 



China 



Christopher Hooper 



Victor Bowers 



Snippets (windsucker) 



Nobby Lashly 



Friday, June 2. The wind still high. The drift ceased at 

 an early hour yesterday; it is difficult to account for the fact. 

 At night the sky cleared; then and this morning we had a fair 

 display of aurora streamers to the N. and a faint arch east. 

 Curiously enough the temperature still remains high, about +7. 



The meteorological conditions are very puzzling. 



Saturday, June 3. The wind dropped last night, but at 

 4 A.M. suddenly sprang up from a dead calm to 30 miles an 

 hour. Almost instantaneously, certainly within the space of one 

 minute, there was a temperature rise of nine degrees. It is the 

 most extraordinary and interesting example of a rise of tem- 

 perature with a southerly wind that I can remember. It is 

 certainly difficult to account for unless we imagine that during 



* Officially the ponies were named after the several schools which had subscribed 

 for their purchase: but sailors are inveterate nicknamers, and the unofficial humour 

 prevailed. See Appendix, Note 18. 



