6 



o^'- 



THE TERRA NOVA GOES SOUTH 5? 



latter were not so thirsty as expected, so that for some days 

 each officer was allowed about as much as a dog in his cabin ! 

 Of course, with special soaps it is possible to get off a certain 

 amount of grime with salt water, but fresh water is a great 

 treat. 



There are several pets on board. Firstly, a beautiful 

 collie, who spends her time in the foc'sle, snuggled in some 

 sacks. Then there's " Niggsy," the cat, " that walks," as 

 Kipling says. Imperturbable, as usual, he tolerates fulsome 

 fondling, and escapes as soon as may be. Smaller fry in the 

 shape of rabbits and a guinea pig accompany us. Early in 

 the voyage one of the rabbits seems to have challenged a 

 pony to mortal combat. At any rate, its flattened carcase 

 was found in the stall. Poor piggy inhabited a cigar-box on 

 occasion, and this was carelessly dropped overboard one day, 

 so that unless a crab-eating seal carries him there he will 

 never reach Antarctica. 



During the next few days the geologists were busy dis- 

 cussing the first sub-expedition in Antarctica. It will probably 

 be of interest to readers to know how the amount of sledging 

 stores is arrived at. It is a problem almost as intricate as a 

 determination of longitude ! The first factor to be considered 

 is time. We will work backwards. The middle of March is 

 getting very cold and dark, and this fixes the end of sledging. 

 The venue of the proposed survey lies around Mount Lister, 

 across MacMurdo Sound, and towering some 13,000 feet 

 (see Map at end). Here, near Butter Point, three scientists 

 (and perhaps one other officer) and a sailor will be landed 

 from the ship as soon as possible after the winter quarters 

 are well started. This may be about the 20th of January. 

 The time factor is therefore two months. 



Our programme will be approximately as follows : — To 

 leave the ship at Butter Point and march two days up the 

 Ferrar Glacier to Descent Pass. Here we dep6t four weeks' 

 provisions, and push on with two weeks' to the Dry Valley, 

 which we explore and map. Meanwhile the ship has made 

 another depot (near the Dailey Isles) of a fortnight's stores, 

 which we pick up on the 1st of March. So that we have to 

 carry with us from the ship only six weeks' provisions, and of 

 this only four weeks will need to be moved over long dis- 

 tances. So much for the distance factor, 



