168 THE VOYAGE OF THE 'DISCOVERY' [Feb. 



the most curious note I have of the report of these three is to 

 the effect that in their opinion our pemmican wouldn't do at 

 all. It was far too rich, they said, and when made into soup 

 it was so greasy that none of them could touch it. Our 

 pemmican contained 60 per cent, of lard, but after knowing 

 how it tasted to a true sledging appetite and seeing the 

 manner in which it was scraped out of the cooking pots in 

 later times, it needs such a reminder as this to recall that it 

 might not be always grateful to a more civilised taste. 



This sledge party did something to dispel curious illusions 

 which existed amongst us with regard to distances. On 

 certain days every detail of our surroundings was so clear that 

 it was impossible to persuade oneself that much on which we 

 looked was in the far distance. Shortly after our arrival, for 

 instance, two of our company had started off with the serious 

 intention of taking an afternoon walk around this very • White 

 Island,' and it was only after they had walked for some hours 

 without noticing any appreciable change in the appearance of 

 the island that they were convinced they had undertaken a 

 task beyond their powers. On another occasion two officers 

 discussed the advisability of making a day's excursion to the 

 top of Mount Erebus and back. 



When we had learnt to discount the deceptive appearance 

 of nearness, many of us were inclined to go to the opposite 

 extreme, and to imagine our distances much greater and our 

 mountains much more exalted than they really were. One 

 was led to this by an exaggerated conception of the distance 

 one could walk in a given time. It was not until instruments 

 and observations had shed the cold light of reason on our 

 sledge marches that we came to know that two miles an hour 

 is very good going on a soft snow surface. 



Though our work was much impeded by the cutting winds, 

 we continued to make progress as the month advanced ; as 

 yet, however, there were no signs of the sea freezing over, and 

 the old sea-ice, still continuing to break away, had left a large 

 extent of open water to the southward and eastward of Cape 

 Armitage. The seals had no longer a resting-place within two 



