i 9 o 3 l KING'S BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION 97 



together and the ideas they embodied were widely divergent ; 

 at last our canny Scotch carpenter's mate arrived with a far 

 more pretentious article, though fashioned from the same 

 material. He had devoted his skill in secret to making what 

 was really a very passable sledge, and when he and his com- 

 panion proceeded to secure themselves to this dark horse the 

 result seemed a foregone conclusion. But after the start it 

 was seen that these worthies had over-reached themselves, for 

 though at first they shot ahead, the speed was altogether too 

 great ; in a brief space they lost control of their machine, and 

 a moment after were rolling head- over-heels in clouds of snow, 

 and whilst the hare thus disported itself the tortoises slid past 

 and won the race. 



Another competition that had to be arranged and managed 

 with care was the rifle-shooting match. On this occasion 

 there was keen competition to hit the bull's-eye, and amongst 

 the competitors was our redoubtable cook, who claimed to 

 be a marksman of the highest order. But by this time 

 the cook's capacity for the narration of fables had become 

 proverbial. It first became evident from varying accounts 

 of the number of places in which he had been born, and 

 later, when the long hours of the winter had given him an 

 opportunity of relating his adventures in many countries, one 

 of the sailors computed that the sum total of these thrilling 

 experiences must have extended over a period of five hundred 

 and ninety years, which, as he said, was a fair age even for a 

 cook. So when this winner of many competitions possessed 

 himself of a rifle at the firing-point, the markers disappeared 

 with extraordinary promptitude behind the butt, and after the 

 first two bullets had buried themselves in that obstruction the 

 cook was informed that whoever won the prize the honours of 

 the day were certainly his, and it would be quite unnecessary 

 for him to exert himself further. 



And so the King's birthday was kept merrily on board the 

 1 Discovery,' and the first Antarctic athletic meeting was pro- 

 nounced by all to have been a distinct success. 



By November 29 the preparations for the western journey 

 voL. 11, n 



