THE HEART OF THE ANTARCTIC 



987 



dation of fifteen persons, but our narrow 

 quarters were warmer than if the hut 

 had been larger. 



The length inside was "33 feet, the 

 breadth 19 feet, and the height to the 

 eaves 8 feet. Between the outer wall and 

 the inside lining of match-boarding, there 

 was a space of about four inches, which 

 was filled with granulated cork, serving 

 to preserve the heat and keep out the 

 cold. The outside was made of inch 

 tongue-and-groove boarding, and a slop- 

 ing roof, with a gable at each end and 

 two ventilators, brought the total height 

 up to 14 feet. The roof was double, but 

 we did not fill the space between the two 

 linings with cork, contenting ourselves 

 with a double layer of felt over the out- 

 side roof, across which battens were 

 nailed to protect the felt from the wind. 

 While the felt was being nailed on, an 

 Antarctic breeze came up, and some of 

 the covering was stripped off. We found 

 it hung up against rocks more than a mile 

 away to the north, and eventually the 

 work had to be done over again. 



The first thing done was to peg out a 

 space for each individual, and we saw 

 that the best plan would be to have the 

 space allotted in sections, allowing two 

 persons to share one cubicle. This space 

 for two men amounted to six feet six 

 inches in length and seven feet in depth 

 from the wall of the hut towards the 

 center. There were seven of these cubi- 

 cles, and a space for the leader of the 

 expedition ; thus providing for the fifteen 

 who made up the shore party. 



THE PONIES GET SICK 



It seems to be generally assumed that 

 a Manchurian pony can drag a sledge 

 over a broken trail at the rate of 20 to 

 30 miles a day, pulling not less than 1,200 

 pounds. Some authorities even put the 

 weight to be hauled at 1,800 pounds, but 

 this is, I think, far too heavv a load. It 

 was a risk to take ponies from the far 

 north through the tropics and then across 

 2,000 miles of stormy sea on a very small 

 ship, but I had felt that if it could be 

 done it would be well worth the trouble, 

 for, compared with the dog, the pony 



is a far more efficient animal, one pony 

 doing the work of at least ten dogs on 

 the food allowance for ten dogs, and 

 traveling a longer distance in a day. 



We established ourselves at the winter 

 quarters with eight ponies, but unfor- 

 tunately we lost four of them within a 

 month of our arrival. The loss was due, 

 in the case of three of the four, to the 

 fact that they were picketed when they 

 first landed on sandy ground, and it was 

 not noticed that they were eating the 

 sand. I had neglected to see that the 

 animals had a supply of salt given to 

 them, and as they found a saline flavor 

 in the volcanic sand under their feet, due 

 to the fact that the blizzards had sprayed 

 all the land near the shore with sea water, 

 they ate it at odd moments. 



All the ponies seem to have done this, 

 but some were more addicted to the habit 

 than the others. Several of them became 

 ill, and we were quite at a loss to account 

 for the trouble until Sandy died. Then 

 a post-mortem examination revealed the 

 fact that his stomach contained many 

 pounds of sand, and the cause of the ill- 

 ness of the other ponies became apparent. 

 We shifted them at once from the place 

 where they were picketed, so that they 

 could get no more sand, and gave them 

 what remedial treatment lay in our 

 power, but two more died in spite of all 

 our efforts. 



EREBUS, THE SENTINEL OE THE GREAT ICE 

 BARRIER 



On coming out of the hut one had only 

 to go round the corner of the building 

 in order to catch a glimpse of Mount 

 Erebus, which lay directly behind us. 

 Its summit was about fourteen miles 

 from our winter quarters, but its slopes 

 and foothills commenced within three- 

 quarters of a mile of the hut. 



Standing as a sentinel at the gate of 

 the Great Ice Barrier. Erebus forms a 

 magnificent picture. The great mountain 

 rises from sea-level to an altitude of over 

 13,000 feet, looking out across the Bar- 

 rier, with its enormous snow-clad bulk 

 towering above the white slopes that run 

 up from the coast. At the top of the 



