i9"l THE 'COMPLEX' STOVE 97 



Towards the end of the month the shaft was so frequently 

 blocked with snow that we dug it out altogether, and then 

 made a hatch with a sack and- some bamboos, the coamings 

 being of snow blocks, and the effect of this was at once to 

 be seen in the improvement of the ventilation. 



In spite of frequent frostbites during our few trips outside, 

 they have one good point, for they make us appreciate the shelter 

 of the hut and allow us to forget the dirt and grease of every- 

 thing. 



June i. Still blowing hard, but clear. Open water in the 

 bay; but when the moon is in the east we can see the blink 

 of ice in the Ross Sea, so I hope the bay will soon freeze over. 

 We have been discussing our best route down, whether to go 

 round the Drygalski on the sea ice or over the tongue. I do 

 not myself think the ice can be depended on round the Drygalski. 

 It runs out so far into the Ross Sea, and even in winter I be- 

 lieve there is a lot of movement far out. 



On the other hand, Professor David speaks of the Drygalski 

 ice tongue as a bad place to cross owing to rough ice, barrancas, 

 and crevasses. I think that unless the sea ice looks very good I 

 shall choose the ice tongue. 



June 2. A still, fine day, and we are able to lay in a good 

 stock of sea ice, blubber, and meat from our depots. 



One of the seal meat depots being on the south side of the 

 cove, about a mile away, it is only on fine days we can reach it 

 now we get no daylight. 



June 7. The wind came up again on the night of the 2nd, 

 and has been blowing hard ever since. Levick some days ago 

 designed a new stove, which we call the ' Complex ' in opposition 

 to our old one, the ' Simplex.' The reason the ' Complex ' did 

 not catch on with the rest of us he put down to professional 

 jealousy, but to-day I came in to find the designer using the old 

 ' Simplex,' while a much battered ' Complex ' lay outside on the 

 drift, where it remained for the rest of the winter. 



June 10. The last two days have been calm, and with thick 

 snow, but to-day the old wind came back again, and now it is 

 blowing a gale and the drift is smothering. Levick searched his 

 medicine case for luxuries, and found bottles of ginger, lime- 

 juice, and citron tabloids. 



The limejuice we keep for sledging, but the two others we 



VOL. II 7 



