260 SCOTT'S LAST EXPEDITION [August 



Friday, August n. The long-expected blizzard came in 

 the night; it is still blowing hard with drift. 



Yesterday evening Oates gave his second lecture on ' Horse 

 Management.' He was brief and a good deal to the point. 

 ' Not born but made ' was his verdict on the good manager of 

 animals. ' The horse has no reasoning power at all, but an 

 excellent memory ' ; sights and sounds recall circumstances under 

 which they were previously seen or heard. It is no use shouting 

 at a horse : ten to one he will associate the noise with some form 

 of trouble, and getting excited, will set out to make it. It is 

 ridiculous for the rider of a bucking horse to shout ' Whoa ! ' 

 I know,' said the Soldier, ' because I have done it.' Also 

 it is to be remembered that loud talk to one horse may disturb 

 other horses. The great thing is to be firm and quiet. 



A horse's memory, explained the Soldier, warns it of events 

 to come. He gave instances of hunters and race-horses which 

 go off their feed and show great excitement in other ways before 

 events for which they are prepared; for this reason every effort 

 should be made to keep the animals quiet in camp. Rugs should 

 be put on directly after a halt and not removed till the last 

 moment before a march. 



After a few hints on leading the lecturer talked of possible 

 improvements in our wintering arrangements. A loose box for 

 each animal would be an advantage, and a small amount of litter 

 on which he could lie down. Some of our ponies lie down, but 

 rarely for more than 10 minutes the Soldier thinks they find 

 the ground too cold. He thinks it would be wise to clip animals 

 before the winter sets in. He is in doubt as to the advisability of 

 grooming. He passed to the improvements preparing for the 

 coming journey the nose bags, picketing lines, and rugs. He 

 proposes to bandage the legs of all ponies. Finally he dealt 

 with the difficult subjects of snow blindness and soft surfaces: 

 for the first he suggested dyeing the forelocks, which have now 

 grown quite long. Oates indulges a pleasant conceit in finishing 

 his discourses with a merry tale. Last night's tale evoked shouts 

 of laughter, but, alas! it is quite unprintable! Our discussion 

 hinged altogether on the final subjects of the lecture as concern- 

 ing snow blindness the dyed forelocks seem inadequate, and 

 the best suggestion seems the addition of a sun bonnet rather 

 than blinkers, or, better still, a peak over the eyes attached to 



