3 2o WITH SCOTT : THE SILVER LINING 



hut to spend a few days geologizing. We took a small sledge 



with about ioo lbs. load. Soon we came to patches of bare 



sea-ice just leprous with blobs of salty snow. I was chagrined 



to find we could hardly drag our light sledge across. It 



augured badly for the 1200 lbs. we should have to pull in a 



week or so ! We saw Emperor penguin tracks, but no 



birds, and reached the hut at 1 p.m. We ate some biscuits 



and then went out to photograph the vicinity. Here the 



Erebus glacier is about three miles to the east, so that 



Cape Royds is a very much larger area of exposed rock than 



Cape Evans. We walked along Black Sand Beach — almost 



the only beach I saw with rolled pebbles — and passed below 



quite a large glacier emerging from a gully. It had a 30-foot 



face of banded ice with fine snow cornices. 1 was surprised to 



see this, and climbed up to determine what was its source of 



supply. Then I found it was " all face " and no background. 



It was in fact merely a gigantic snowdrift plastered on the face 



of a 50-foot rock-cliff", and proved that many of our smaller 



glaciers were nothing but case-hardened snowdrifts which had 



solidified in situ. 



We returned to Shackleton's hut, and I had a varied lunch 

 off mock turtle soup, mutton cutlets, and unlimited candied 

 peel ! We cleared up the hut, which was in an awful mess, 

 Deb arranging the stores and mending the stove, while I swept 

 up the floor. 



"We made up a bit of fire with some coal we found in one 

 corner and turned into our bags. All next day it blew fright- 

 fully hard. There was a huge iron boiler which we gradually 

 thawed out and used for water, but we used an enamel jug as 

 a kettle. We made porridge and ate it from huge wooden 

 spoons. I read ' The Truants ' (Mason) and half the * Botor 

 Chaperon ' (Williamson). The hut groaned and creaked so 

 that I thought it would blow in sunder, but we were com- 

 fortable enough. We hunted up some hypo, a large lamp, 

 and 50 lbs. of carbide. I found a useable pair of fingered 

 gloves, which were just what I wanted for instrument 

 work." 



Next morning it was blowing hard, but there was less 

 drift. We went out to try a photo, and the blizzard blew my 

 camera down and smashed the frame. After lunch it " let 

 up " somewhat, and we set off for Cape Evans. We saw an 



