i 9 o2] ERECTION OF HUTS 161 



and crowbar before the solid supports were erected and our 

 able carpenter could get to work on the frame. 



In addition to the main hut, and of greater importance, 

 were the two small huts which we had brought for our magnetic 

 instruments. These consisted of a light skeleton framework 

 of wood covered with sheets of asbestos. The numerous parts 

 were of course numbered, and there would have been no great 

 difficulty in putting them together had it not been that the 

 wood was badly warped, so that none of the joints would fit 

 without a great deal of persuasion from the carpenter. One 

 of these huts was designed to hold instruments which should 

 keep a continuous record of the change of the magnetic ele- 

 ments on a photographic drum, and it was highly desirable 

 that the record should be commenced as soon as possible. 



As may be imagined, with so much work going on on 

 shore and the frequent necessity of looking after the ship, our 

 time was well occupied. But life was not all work, and we 

 found plenty of interest and amusement in our surroundings, 

 as well as relaxation of a more usual character, as the following 

 extracts from my diary will show : 



'After working hours, all hands generally muster on the 

 floe for football. There is plenty of room for a full-sized 

 ground in the bay, and the snow is just hard enough to make 

 a good surface.' 



' February 13. — We hauled the stern into the ice-foot in 

 the morning and carried on hut-building operations. It was 

 calm and clear, and we made good progress. We tried a team 

 of dogs to tow the light sledge up the hill with pieces of the 

 small huts. Some pulled well, but others are evidently young 

 and untrained ; some were extremely timid and grovelled at 

 the least attempt to drive them, others fought whenever and 

 wherever they could. It was not rapid, but eventually all the 

 pieces were got up the hill. . . . Repeated walks are taken to 

 the hill-tops in the immediate vicinity, and eyes are turned 

 towards the south— the land of promise. Many are the argu- 

 ments as to what lies in the misty distance, and as to what 

 obstacles the spring journeys will bring to light. . . . The 

 vol. 1. m 



