88 THE VOYAGE OF THE 'DISCOVERY 5 [Jan. 



revelled in the sense of repletion, and read once more all the 

 good news that had come from the ship. But after this there 

 slowly crept on us a feeling that something was going wrong ; 

 our clothes seemed to be getting extraordinarily tight, and the 

 only conclusion we could come to was that the concentrated 

 food was continuing to swell. 



' For me at least discomfort speedily gave place to acute 

 suffering. From a sitting position I lowered myself until I was 

 stretched out at full length, but this did not ease matters at all, 

 and, with many groans, I was obliged to hoist myself to my 

 knees, and, later, to as near a standing position as I could 

 assume in the confined space of our small tent. In this trying 

 attitude I remained until explosion seemed so imminent that I 

 was forced to gasp, " For heaven's sake, undo the door," and 

 directly the string was untied I dived out with a feeling that 

 nothing less than the vault of heaven could hold me. 



' But if I expected relief outside it was very slow in 

 coming. Round and round our small tent I paced with 

 measured tread until the minutes grew into hours, a well- 

 beaten track had been worn, and I began to wonder whether I 

 should ever return to a sense of normal dimensions. I don't 

 think I have ever spent a more unpleasant time, and it did not 

 make matters easier to know that it was entirely the result of 

 my own greediness. Moreover, although Shackleton had not 

 been in a fit state to over-indulge himself as I had done, I felt 

 distinctly aggrieved that Wilson had not been obliged to join 

 me in my midnight walk, and such sympathy as I got from 

 these others very thinly disguised their inclination to find the 

 whole incident extremely amusing. 



1 However, when at length my pangs subsided sufficiently 

 to allow me to return to the tent I had some revenge, for as I 

 was about to enter, Wilson realised that his acutest suffering had 

 only been deferred, and as I approached he burst into the open 

 with a pea-green face, and I had some consolation in knowing 

 that we had changed places. It will be a long time before any 

 of us over-eat ourselves again, and it is certainly an object- 

 lesson on the effects of hunger ; but one of the most curious 



