NEVER AGAIN 557 



to get some useful work done in the time which remained 

 until the ship arrived. 



We had the Polar records : Campbell and his men, un- 

 aided, had not only survived their terrible winter, but had 

 sledged down the coast after it. We ourselves, faced by a 

 difficult alternative, had fallen on our feet. We never hoped 

 for more than this : we seldom hoped for so much. 



I wanted a series of Adelie penguin embryos from the 

 rookery at Cape Royds, but had not expected an opportunity 

 of getting them because I was away sledging during the 

 summer months. Now the chance had come. Atkinson 

 wanted to work on parasites at the same place, and others to 

 survey. But the real job was an ascent of Erebus, the active 

 volcano which rose from our doors to some 13,400 feet in 

 height. A party of Shackleton 's men under Professor David 

 went up it in March, and managed to haul a sledge up to 

 5800 feet, from which point they had to portage their gear. 

 A year before this Debenham, with the help of a telescope, 

 selected a route by which they could haul a sledge up to 

 9000 feet. There proved to be no great difficulty about it ; 

 it was just a matter of legs and breath. 



They were a cheery company, part-singing in the even- 

 ings and working hard all day. It was an uneventful trip, 

 Debenham said, and very harmonious : the best trip he 

 had down there. Both Debenham and Dickason suffered 

 from mountain sickness, however, and they were the two 

 smokers ! The clearness of the air was marked. At 5000 

 feet they could plainly see Mount Melbourne and Cape 

 Jones, between two and three hundred miles away, and 

 several uncharted mountains over to the west, but they 

 were unable to plot them accurately because they could get 

 direction rays from one point only. The Sound itself was 

 covered by cloud most of the time, but Beaufort Island and 

 Franklin Island were clear. Unlike David's party, they 

 could see no signs whatever of volcanic action on Mount 



travel inland again without food which contains these vitamines. It is to be noticed 

 that, although '[the Medical Research Council's authoritative publication on the true 

 value of these accessory substances was not available when we went South in 19 10, yet 

 Atkinson insisted that fresh onions, which had been brought down by the ship, be added 

 to our ration for the Search Journey. Compare recent work of Professor Leonard Hill 

 on the value of ultra-violet rays in compensating for lack of vitamines. — A. C.-G. 



