IN WINTER QUARTERS WITH CAPTAIN SCOTT 319 



II. 



By the happy help of fancy we can leave the land of glaciers, 



Hear the tolling from Tom Tower, or the chimes from Cambridge 

 arches, 

 Sense the thrill of ski-ers' prowess on the slopes of Holmens Kol ; 



Once again can feel the tump-line as we cross the Muskeg Marshes ; 

 We can change the Slopes of Terror to the sward of Kosciusko, 



Where a thousand steers are grazing 'mid the tarns and green 

 moraines ; 

 See the land of Cherry Blossom and the maidens of Japan, 



Or the peaks of Himalaya hung above the Indian plains. 



III. 



Lightly fades the lonely igloo ; merges in the college gray . . . 



In the firesides of Old England, thirteen thousand miles away. 



Thus from Lonelands to the Homelands all our thoughts are speeding 



forth, 

 Faster far than wire or wireless — on "stretched wings towards the 



north." * 



*&- 



Cape Evans, 2 7. 10. 1 1. 



I had an interesting midnight walk early on the 15th 

 October. " I had no gloves on, and it was light enough to 

 photograph. There was a beautiful red sunset due south. 

 To the north the bay ice was pea-green, while Erebus shone 

 out with purple shadows. I laid boundary stones at the ice 

 margins of both Skua and Island lakes, to determine how 

 quickly the ice ablated in the spring. That evening I caused 

 a sensation by having a shave, the first since leaving New 

 Zealand. Birdie, Simpson, and Cherry behaved most foolishly 

 as a result. Day did the deed ! " 



We found the Hut Point telephone useful for weather 

 forecasting. For instance, on the 16th Meares rang up at 

 11 a.m. to say that it was blizzing (with force 9) from the 

 south with a temperature of — 1 6° F. At this time, though 

 only fifteen miles away, we were experiencing a moderate 

 north wind (force 3) with a temperature of — 3 F. "As a 

 result Titus bet Teddy Evans that the blizzard would arrive 

 before noon. The wager was six cigarettes. No blizzard 

 arrived at all, so that Teddy won, but as he had given up 

 smoking for some months he only took one for Debenham ! " 



On the 17th Debenham and I went over to Shackleton's 



* Scott's motto was, " Stretched Wings towards the South." 



