416 WITH SCOTT: THE SILVER LINING 



reserved for the Western Party. We rushed that box. The 

 apples were icy cold and frozen solid. Eagerly we placed 

 some on the top of the wardroom stove. We waited until 

 they were well warmed and then voraciously bit into them, 

 to encounter a stony iceberg in the middle ! They took an 

 incredible time to thaw, and then all the plant cells had burst, 

 and the apple was a poor thing all brown and almost 

 rotten ! 



In my cabin I found a small tin trunk with better fare : 

 cakes, sweets and nuts of all descriptions, everything but 

 chocolate. After hearing the yarns of some of Shackleton's 

 men, I expected to be surfeited with chocolate, and so warned 

 my people not to send any down by the ship. However, 

 the other luxuries were well-chosen and abundant. Every 

 officer aboard had selections each day, and not till we reached 

 the Circle nearly a month later was that tin box depleted. 

 Indeed, one cake from Parramatta friends was so large that 

 a half was sent to gratify the mess deck ! 



When I was free from Ponting I bolted into the engine 

 room and was provided with a huge bucket of scalding water. 

 Rennick and other officers had lent me some clothes, and I 

 can still remember that bath. The only available space was 

 over the boilers ! I was jammed into a narrow passage next 

 the ship's timbers. If one bare foot slipped an inch too far 

 it touched the boiler plates ; if the ship gave a lurch I 

 cannoned against huge baulks of oak. Still, I started as 

 a toil-worn and wild- eyed refugee and finished a semi-respect- 

 able roustabout ! 



Pennell soon gave up all hope of reaching Cape Evans. 

 The blizzard which was brewing at noon, on the 14th, soon 

 enveloped us, and we were driven far north. Under these 

 circumstances he deemed it advisable to make the best of it, 

 and proceed to Evans Coves to try and rescue Campbell's 

 party. 



Among my mail I found a book sent by Professor David. 

 This was " Queed," by Harrison, a writer new to me. This 

 novel fairly gripped me, and I turned into my bunk all 

 standing, and read until I had finished it. I hope all Mr. 

 Harrison's readers derived as much pleasure from it. 



" Jim ' Dennistoun was a welcome addition to our mess. 

 He had been eager to see Antarctica in any capacity, and so 



