IN WINTER QUARTERS WITH CAPTAIN SCOTT 215 



over meteorology yet in ovo. Ponting had " raked in every 

 little bit " available, including some magnificent studies of surf 

 breaking on the ice-foot. Day and Nelson roused our envious 

 admiration chiefly by the condition of their common cubicle. 

 No old beams from the stable framed their bunks ! They were 

 supported by carved and polished standards, encased in veneer 

 (of venesta casing) ; and below were some fine specimens of 

 joinery in the shape of two capacious drawers ! 



Day had equipped the hut with acetylene. The generator 

 occupied a corner of the enclosed porch, where one could hear 

 it gurgling as one entered the hut. If the outer door were 

 not shut properly the fact was made evident by the dimming 

 of the light ! For the water in the generator soon froze if a 

 blast of — 40 struck it from the outer darkness. We were 

 prohibited from carrying candles through the porch into the 

 verandah storeroom for fear of explosion. 



Nelson and I initiated the survey of Cape Evans on 

 that stroll. The lakes had diminished greatly ; not by ordinary 

 evaporation, but through the removal of ice particles by the 

 process of ablation. The margin of the lake ice was fringed 

 by " blobs " of ice united into a lacework, and day by day one 

 could see this fringe vanishing. It was curious that the small 

 animalcule {Flagellata^ etc.) should in some cases belong to the 

 same genera as in English ponds ! 



Cape Evans is a low promontory of triangular shape. Its 

 average height is only about twenty-five feet above the sea, 

 though Windvane Hill rises to sixty-five feet. The south- 

 western portion consists of rocky ridges of kenyte with steep 

 cliffs adjoining the sea, but to the north-east is a gravelly 

 plain surrounding Skua Lake. Quite abruptly on the east 

 and about half a mile from the western extremity, rises a steep 

 bank of gravel (the Ramp) to a height of 150 feet. A few 

 hundred yards of slope studded with quaint cones of rubble 

 brought one to the edge of the great sheet of glacier ice which 

 covers the whole western side of Mount Erebus. This was 

 our domain, and to this cape we were practically confined 

 during the ensuing six months (see Map No. 4). 



Patches of ice covered portions of the cape, but the rest 

 of the surface consisted for the most part of kenyte gravel with 

 ridges and bosses of solid lava (kenyte) projecting through it, 

 especially to the south-west. These dark lavas undoubtedly 



