i9l GALES 67 



occasional lulls until the I4th. The morning was overcast, with 

 a cold southerly wind, and when I was out for a walk with 

 Levick we both got our noses frostbitten. In the evening a 

 strong gale blew with drift, and between I and 4 A.M. on the 

 6th the squalls were of hurricane force. 



The hut shook and creaked, but stood up to it all right, 

 though some of the ruberoid on the roof was ripped off, a heavy 

 ladder blown some way to leeward, and the outer wall of our 

 porch, made of cases and boards, blown in. In the forenoon the 

 wind eased a little and we were able to get out and secure what 

 we could. The squalls were still so fierce it was impossible 

 to stand in them, and one had to ' heave to ' on hands and knees 

 until they passed. 



All the sea ice had gone out, although it was over 2 feet 

 thick, and on the 8th the gale freshened again, and during the 

 night the squalls were as hard as any we had had, stones and 

 pebbles rattling against the hut. On the 9th it eased a little, 

 but blew a whole gale until Saturday I3th, when the wind 

 dropped. The peninsula had been swept bare of snow, but the 

 beach and huts were covered with frozen spray. On the I9th 

 the sun left us, but the weather improved, being clear and cold, 

 while the temperature dropped to below zero F. By May 28 

 the sea ice seemed pretty solid all round us, the temperature 

 being - 30 F., and we walked out to the ' Sisters,' two pillar 

 rocks lying off Cape Adare. The ice here showed heavy pres- 

 sure. There are a good number of bergs frozen in to the north- 

 ward of us. 



Now the winter cold had set in we were obliged to rig our 

 second stove in the hut, finding it impossible to keep the tem- 

 perature of the hut above 25 F. 



On June i we had a twenty-four hours' blizzard, but I am 

 thankful to say the sea ice held, except off the north shore, where 

 it was driven out for about 100 yards along the beach. 



June ii. We have had a week of the most glorious calm 

 and clear weather, the temperature to-day being 25 F. 



We have been out to most of the neighbouring bergs, and 

 one in Robertson Bay has the most wonderful caves. Levick 

 got some very good photographs of these with flash light. Un- 

 fortunately Priestley, who was working the flash, got his face 

 badly burnt. 



