THE ENTRANCE TUNNEL 95 



' new skin ' we have mended Y's glass. We are very snug in our 

 den, and hardly hear the wind. 



From April 27 to May 5 the weather prevented much out- 

 side work and we spent most of our time in our bags, or work- 

 ing at the improvement of the long tunnel which led to our home. 

 We are roofing this with sealskins on a framework of bamboos, 

 trusting to the drift to increase the thickness of the roof and 

 so insulate us more thoroughly against the cold. We have also 

 dug out one or two alcoves in which to keep meat, blubber, and 

 miscellaneous stores. 



We lost the sun to-day and shall not get him back till 



AugUSt 12. 



May 6. About three times a week we have to bring up 

 salt water ice for the hoosh, as we have run out of salt. This 

 morning Priestley and I went down for sea ice, and as usual 

 were walking round Look-out Point to see if any seals were 

 up, when coming across the sea ice in Arrival Bay we saw 

 figures. We had often talked of the possibility of the ship 

 being caught in Wood Bay and relieving us from that direction. 



We both got rather a thrill on sighting them, though they 

 were so close to the open water as to make it improbable that 

 they should be anything but penguins. Still I ran back to the 

 hut for my glasses, as through the low drift they seemed tall 

 enough to be men. 



Abbott followed me down with an ice-axe, since if they were 

 not men they were food. They turned out to be four Emperor 

 penguins heading into Arrival Bay, so we jumped the tide crack, 

 all getting wet, and made off to intercept them. We came up 

 with them after a long chase, and bagged the lot, Levick com- 

 ing up just too late for the kill. They were in fine condition, and 

 it was all we could do to carry them back to the hut, each taking 

 a bird. There is no doubt our low diet is making us rather weak. 

 We had a full hoosh and an extra biscuit in honour of the 

 occasion. 



May 7. A blizzard with heavy drift has been blowing all 

 day, so it was a good job we got the penguins. We have got 

 the roof on the shaft now, but in these blizzards the entrance 

 is buried in snow, and we have a job to keep the shaft clear. 

 Priestley has found his last year's journal, and reads some to 

 us every evening. 



