90 WORST JOURNEY IN THE WORLD 
with a sledge attached to him, went galloping over the hills 
and boulders. Below him, all unconscious of his impending 
fate, was Ponting, adjusting a large camera with his usual 
accuracy. Both survived. There were runaways innumer- 
able, and all kinds of falls. But these ponies could tumble 
about unharmed in a way which would cause an English 
horse to lie up for a week. “‘’There is no doubt that the 
bumping of the sledges close at the heels of the animals is 
the root of the evil.’ 4 
There were two adventures during this first week of 
landing stores which might well have had a more disastrous 
conclusion. The first of these was the adventure of Pont- 
ing and the Killer whales. 
““T was a little late on the scene this morning, and 
thereby witnessed a most extraordinary scene. Some six or 
seven killer whales, old and young, were skirting the fast 
floe edge ahead of the ship ; they seemed excited and dived 
rapidly, almost touching the floe. As we watched, they 
suddenly appeared astern, raising their snouts out of water. 
I had heard weird stories of these beasts, but had never 
associated serious danger with them. Close to the water’s 
edge lay the wire stern rope of the ship, and our two 
Esquimaux dogs were tethered to this. I did not think of 
connecting the movement of the whales with this fact, and 
seeing them so close I shouted to Ponting, who was stand- 
ing abreast of the ship. He seized his camera and ran 
towards the floe edge to get a close picture of the beasts, 
which had momentarily disappeared. The next moment 
the whole floe under him and the dogs heaved up and split 
into fragments. One could hear the booming noise as the 
whales rose under the ice and struck it with their backs. 
Whale after whale rose under the ice, setting it rocking 
fiercely ; luckily Ponting kept his feet and was able to fly 
to security. By an extraordinary chance also, the splits had 
been made around and between the dogs, so that neither of 
them fell into the water. Then it was clear that the whales 
shared our astonishment, for one after another their huge 
hideous heads shot vertically into the air through the 
1 Scott’s Last Expedition, vol. i. pp. 113-114. 
