76 SCOTT'S LAST EXPEDITION QANUARY 



while to the north of the beach, where the sweep of the current 

 was exceptionally strong, the various open water patches which 

 had been present since August rapidly widened and coalesced, 

 and in December the ice both east and west of the cape broke out 

 with great rapidity. 



Our work, therefore, was now restricted to the immediate 

 confines of the beach and the peninsula of Cape Adare, and this 

 time was principally occupied in taking routine observations and 

 adding to our biological collections. 



Amongst the specimens collected at this time were several 

 fine sea leopards, which I was fortunate enough to shoot near 

 the rookery. As most of them were shot in the water, we had 

 some difficulty in securing the bodies, and it was here that our 

 kayaks were very useful. 



We could carry these light and yet seaworthy craft down 

 to the ice foot and launch them, and from them slip a noose 

 round the body as it lay on the bottom in two or three fathoms 

 of water. The line was then passed ashore and the united 

 strength of the party just sufficed to land the quarry. 



After Christmas a permanent camp was established on Cape 

 Adare and we were divided into three watches, one of which 

 was always stationed on top of the cape to look out for the 

 ship. During one of these watches Priestley and Dickason 

 walked ten miles south along the cape, to find out whether, in the 

 event of the ship not picking us up, it was possible for us to 

 make our way south this way. They report the cape to reach 

 a height of 4200 feet at its highest point, and from there they 

 were able to get a good view of Warning Glacier and consider 

 that it would be impossible to make an extended journey in this 

 direction. 



On the morning of January 4 Browning sighted the ship 

 and signalled us on the beach below by hoisting a flag as ar- 

 ranged, and two days later all our gear was aboard and we 

 were on our way to try our fortune two or three hundred miles 

 farther south along the coast. 



January 8, 1912. P.M. This evening Pennell and I from 

 the crow's nest saw open water behind the heavy pack we had 

 been working through all day. I had given up hope of being 

 able to land at Evans Coves, and talking it over with Pennell 

 had just decided to come down in the ship and pick up Debenham 



