LAND 95 
drifts of snow, and the thaw was never enough to remove 
this for the two other summers we spent here. There is no 
doubt this was an exceptional year for thaw. We never 
again saw a little waterfall such as was now tumbling down 
the rocks from Skua Lake into the sea. 
The little hill of 66 feet high behind us was soon named 
Wind Vane Hill, and there were other meteorological in- 
struments there besides. A snow-drift or ice-drift always 
forms to leeward of any such projection, and that beneath 
this hill was large enough for us to drive into it two ice 
caves. The first of these was to contain our larder, notably 
the frozen mutton carcasses brought down by us from New 
Zealand in the ice-house on deck. ‘These, however, showed 
signs of mildew, and we never ate very freely of them. 
Seal and penguin were our stock meat foods, and mutton 
was considered to be a luxury. 
The second cave, 13 feet long by 5 feet wide, hollowed 
out by Simpson and Wright, was for the magnetic in- 
struments. The temperature of these caves was found to 
be fairly constant. Unfortunately, this was the only drift 
into which we could tunnel, and we had no such mass of 
snow and ice as is afforded by the Barrier, which can be 
burrowed, and was burrowed extensively by Amundsen 
and his men. 
The cases containing the bulk of our stores were placed 
in stacks arranged by Bowers up on the sloping ground to 
the west of the hut, beginning close to the entrance door. 
The sledges lay on the hill side above them. This arrange- 
ment was very satisfactory during the first winter, but the 
excessive blizzards of the second winter and the immense 
amount of snow which was gathering about the camp 
caused us to move everything up to the top of the ridge 
behind the hut where the wind kept them more clear. 
Amundsen found it advisable to put his cases in two long 
lines. 
The dogs were tethered to a long chain or rope. The 
ponies’ stable was built against the northern side of the 
hut, and was thus sheltered from the blizzards which 
1 The South Pole, vol. i. p. 278. 
