1 66 SCOTT'S LAST EXPEDITION [NOVEMBER 



4 knobs ' of dried-up moss. I climbed up a few hundred feet 

 and got a good view to the south-west, where a beautiful glacier 

 came into the harbour at such a low angle it seemed to offer 

 a feasible route to the hinterland. Debenham had discovered 

 a nice patch of gravel and a suitable site for our stone kitchen, 

 so we decided to make our headquarters on this point which we 

 christened Cape Geology. The beach, in honour of our country 

 and of the mossy verdure, and in memory of our isolation, we 

 named Botany Bay ! 



We had lunch about 3 P.M. and then we marched off to get 

 the wherewithal for our first seal-hoosh. A seal lay only a 

 quarter of a mile west of the camp. I poleaxed her with an ice 

 axe and we cut her up under Forde's direction. Forde's right 

 hand was still in bandages from the serious frostbite of Sep- 

 tember and, indeed, his third finger had not recovered by the 

 end of our expedition. 



It was rather a sanguinary business, especially for tyros. 

 Gran fairly paddled in blood, and I fear I was little better. 

 We took all the meat we could carry and Debenham had about 

 40 Ibs. of blubber. 



By this time about a dozen skuas had assembled. We did 

 not frighten them, for we wished to attract as many as possible 

 and later abstract their eggs. I wrote : ' About six pairs are 

 breeding along the beach here, so we ought to get a dozen " new 

 laid," and save them a world of trouble by killing them also.' 

 (I'm afraid we were not very altruistic!) 



Now we set to work at our stone kitchen. All the way from 

 Cape Evans we had dragged a blubber stove strongly made in 

 sheet iron by Bernard Day. The granite hereabouts weathered 

 in long joints and we found a natural hollow about a yard wide 

 and 3 yards long. The lower walls of the hut were therefore 

 of solid granite about fifteen feet thick which should ensure 

 freedom from draughts. We s broke out blocks from the floor 

 and Gran smashed off a troublesome projection by repeatedly 

 dropping a boulder weighing a hundredweight upon it until it 

 decided to cave in. 



At 10 P.M. I made a great discovery. I saw something black 

 floating in a little pool, and closer inspection revealed a cluster 

 of minute insects. The others had almost dropped to sleep and 

 I was much chagrined at the lukewarm reception of my news. 



