A MONTH IN THE OLD DISCOVERT HUT 203 



with my penknife. Unfortunately he bled muchly and 

 spoiled his yellow tie, so we dug a little pit and laid his head 

 therein, to save the plumage." 



Off the end of the Cape were many open pools of water, 

 but I crossed between easily enough. The water was washing 

 across, and had perhaps thickened the band of ice. Here I 

 found many of the fish on the ice surface. Probably they 

 were chased into the mushy ice by seals, and froze fast. I 

 proceeded round to the east, and then climbed Observation 

 Hill, finding Dr. Bill on the top busily sketching. 



" As the sun sank below the stratus cloud the golden 

 beams shone past the Hut and showed up beautifully on the 

 snowy surface of the Sound. We saw this tawny area 

 gradually advance to the fixed ice and give it a rose-pink 

 flush. The deep purplish shadow from Hut Point enchanted 

 Dr. Bill, who made a complete sketch in about ten minutes. 

 The sun's low shadows on the slight corrugations of the ice 

 and the elongated shadows of Wright with the sledge were 

 very striking. 



Later Scott returned and complimented us on getting 

 round the Cape safely ; in fact, he said that he was glad there 

 were pioneers ahead when he tackled it ! 



On the 2nd Scott reported the first aurora at 3 a.m. He 

 said it extended to within ten degrees of the zenith from the 

 south, was of a reddish hue and like a curtain with two folds. 

 Birdie saw it later and said he thought it was a peculiar cirrus 

 cloud ! So I felt that the colours could not have been very 

 brilliant. 



Scott, Oates, and myself never aspired to be considered 

 cooks, but it was pleasing to see the anxiety of the others to 

 earn a cordon bleu ! But I was quite willing to help if others 

 shouldered the ensuing blame ! For instance, at lunch on this 

 particular day Wright and I made what he christened a 

 " cheese sponge." " We stirred it about an hour in hopes of 

 getting it to c jell,* but it remained obdurately granular. 

 However, by carving off lumps of our butter it went down 

 O.K. But a quarter of a pound of butter for sixteen men is 

 litde enough ! " 



Lieutenant Evans started to cut a road down to the bay 

 ice through the twelve-foot ice cliff. We dumped the ice 

 from the excavation on to the bay ice, hoping to build up a 



