THE DEPOT JOURNEY 163 
inventors ; they generally gave some light, though not a 
brilliant one. There were more ambitious attempts than 
blubber. The worst of these perhaps was produced by 
Oates. Somebody found some carbide and Oates immedi- 
ately schemed to light the hut with acetylene. I think he 
was the only person who did not view the preparation 
with ill-concealed nervousness. However, Wilson took the 
situation into his tactful hands. For several days Oates and 
Wilson were deep in the acetylene plant scheme and then, 
.apparently without reason, it was found that it could not 
be done. It was a successful piece of strategy which no 
woman could have bettered. 
Bowers, Wilson, Atkinson and I were on Crater Hill 
one morning when we espied a sledge party approaching 
from the direction of Castle Rock. As we expected, this 
was the Geological party, consisting of Grifhth Taylor, 
Wright, Debenham and Seaman Evans, home from the 
Western Mountains. They entirely failed to recognize in 
our black faces the men whom they had last seen from 
the ship at Glacier Tongue. I hope their story will be 
told by Debenham. For days their doings were the topic 
of conversation. Both numerically and intellectually they 
were an addition to our party, which now numbered six- 
teen. Taylor especially is seldom at a loss for conversa- 
tion and his remarks are generally original, if sometimes 
crude. Most of us were glad to listen when the discussions 
in which he was a leading figure raged round the blubber 
stove. Scott and Wilson were always in the thick of it, 
and the others chimed in as their interest, knowledge and 
experience led. Rash statements on questions of fact were 
always dangerous, for our small community contained so 
many specialists that errors were soon exposed. At the 
same time there were few parts of the world that one or 
other of us had not visited at least once. Later, when we 
came to our own limited quarters, books of reference were 
constantly in demand to settle disputes. Such books as 
the Times Atlas, a good encyclopaedia and even a Latin 
Dictionary are invaluable to such expeditions for this pur- 
pose. To them I would add Who’s Who. 
