288 WITH SCOTT: THE SILVER LINING 



however, it objected strongly, having legs and arms and 

 answering to the name of Lieutenant Evans ! 



The pressure of the sea ice had raised great ridges of ice 

 around Inaccessible Island. Some cakes of ice were most 

 precariously perched on the top of these six-foot hummocks. 

 The queer structures resulting from the buckling and cracking 

 of this six-foot thick sheet of ice reminded the geologists very 

 strongly of the type diagrams used to illustrate the major 

 folds and earthquake cracks in the earth's crust. 



On the 4th of August we made a real start for the summer 

 campaign by taking the two motor sledges out of their winter 

 quarters. " It was frightfully heavy work and took about 

 twenty of us to move one a foot. I wouldn't care to go over 

 a snow-lidded crevasse in one." 



Simpson gave us a good lecture on General Meteorology 

 in the Antarctic. 



I thought Simpson didn't lay enough stress on the purely 

 local character of our storms. I said that he reminded me of 

 a minnow living behind a stone in a big river, wildly excited 

 over every eddy and paying more attention to them than to 

 the river as a whole. This " cag " between the scientists 

 greatly delighted certain of the ribald, and Simpson was 

 referred to as the " minnow in the eddy " for some time 

 thereafter. 



The usual occupations filled our time during the first 

 fortnight of August. I was busy mapping the vicinity, trans- 

 lating German geology, calculating sledge stores, and writing 

 a long article on the Inmates of the Hut for S.P.T. On 

 the 14th I wrote, " To-day is a beautiful day, with a tempera- 

 ture of — 38 F. ; but with no wind, so that one can stay out 

 quite comfortably. It is very light now, for the sun is due 

 in five or six days. Erebus is very active, and is puffing up 

 big gouts of steam. Debenham measured one which rose 

 4000 feet in ten seconds ! The banner then sweeps south and 

 east. It is lit up by the hidden sun in a most beautiful 

 manner. I say the colour is tawny, Atch says russet, Birdie 

 burnt sienna, while Bill says it's a mixture of vermilion and 

 yellow ochre ! Anyway it is very pretty, and Debenham 

 says he can see inside the crater." 



Through falling into a small crevasse I found some beauti- 

 ful ice crystals above the Ramp. Later I turned up some 



