278 WITH SCOTT : THE SILVER LINING 



Bill. We got ' bushed ' on a high peak near a hay-stack. I 

 had a talk with Dr. Bill, in which I said that I had dreamt 

 that the guide was going to take us down an easy way, which 

 he wanted to keep dark, as he'd discovered it and wanted to 

 keep it for rich tourists. We both smiled at this fool dream. 

 Then I really awoke, and I suppose my sub-conscious self is 

 still smiling on * Hay-stack Mountain ' in the Grindel- 

 wald ! " 



The ponies were snugly housed in the stable along the 

 lee side of the hut. Their stable was built of the blocks of 

 compressed fuel, and was quite a snug abode. They were 

 rather vicious little beggars, and a walk down the narrow 

 "aisle" meant a risk of a bite or a kick. Oates and Meares 

 spent a lot of time in the stable making blubber and seal 

 pemmican for the dogs. The western party had nothing to 

 do with the ponies, for only those who were leading the 

 ponies south were responsible for exercising them. In mid- 

 winter some " fearful wild fowl " took cover in their shaggy 

 coats, and occasioned Captain Oates much trouble. 



I noted this in my journal as follows — 



" Baron Bernard du Day, Messenger from Captain Titos 

 Oates. 



" Greetings to Debenham. 



"Wilt thou peril thyself so far as to visit the stable, and 

 for payment of one straight-cut cigarette an hour, comb the 

 manes of ye Siberian ponies to catch ye intrepid and adventur- 

 ous louse ? 



" Debenham meekly leaves his rock sections, and hies him 

 hence ! " 



Some of the game from the Pony Coverts was exhibited 

 by Atkinson under his microscope. They resembled white 

 ants in wind-helmets ! No legs appeared in the specimen, so 

 I asked if they had been worn off in the chase, but the indignant 

 exhibitor was silent. 



During the autumn another grotto had been added to 

 our outlying villas. This had been cut out in the glacieret 

 to house Wright's pendulums. We called it the " Cave of 

 Pendullum." It was usually drifted up, and we had to cut 

 down to the sacking door, being careful not to chop the tele- 



