45o WORST JOURNEY IN THE WORLD 



But that it would not stand much of this wind was obvious, 

 and after breakfast Atkinson stuck out his jaw and said he 

 wasn't going to lose another trap for any dash blizzard. He 

 and Keohane sallied forth on to the ice, lost to our sight 

 immediately in the darkness and drift. They got it, but 

 arrived on the cape in quite a different place, and we were 

 glad to see them back. Soon afterwards the ice blew out. 



Much credit is due to the mule leaders that they were 

 able to exercise their animals without hurt. Cape Evans in 

 the dark, strewn with great boulders, with the open sea at 

 your feet, is no easy place to manage a very high-spirited 

 and excitable mule, just out of a warm stable, especially 

 if this is his first outing for several days and the wind 

 is blowing fresh, and you are not sure if your face is 

 frost-bitten, and you are quite sure that your hands are. 

 But the exercise was carried out without mishap. The 

 mules themselves were most anxious to go out, and when 

 Pyaree developed a housemaid's knee and was kept in, 

 she revenged herself upon her more fortunate compan- 

 ions by biting each one hard as it passed her head on its 

 way to and from the door. Gulab was the biggest hand- 

 ful, and Williamson managed him with skill : some of 

 them, especially Lai Khan, were very playful, running 

 round and round their leaders and stopping to paw the 

 ground : Khan Sahib, on the other hand, was bored, yawn- 

 ing continually : it was suggested that he was suffering 

 from polar ennui ! Altogether they reflected the greatest 

 credit upon Lashly, who groomed them every day and 

 took the greatest care of them. They were subject to 

 the most violent fits of jealousy, being much disturbed if 

 a rival got undue attention. The dog Vaida, however, was 

 good friends with them all, going down the line and rub- 

 bing noses with them in their stalls. 



The food of the mules was based upon that given by 

 Oates to the ponies the year before, and the results were 

 successful. 



The accommodation given to the dogs in the Terra 

 Nova on the way south is open to criticism. As the reader 

 may remember, they were chained on the top of the deck 



