THE FIRST WINTER 209 
into the merchant service, sailing five times round the world 
in the Loch Torridon. Thence he passed into the service 
of the Royal Indian Marine, commanded a river gunboat 
on the Irrawaddy, and afterwards served on H.M.S. Fox, 
where he had considerable experience, often in open boats, 
preventing the gun-running which was carried on by the 
Afghans in the Persian Gulf. 
Thence he came to us. 
It is at any rate a curious fact, and it may be a signi- 
ficant one, that Bowers, who enjoyed a greater resistance 
to cold than any man on this expedition, joined it direct 
from one of the hottest places on the globe. My knowledge 
is insufficient to say whether it is possible that any trace 
can be found here of cause and effect, especially since the 
opposite seems to be the more common experience, in that 
such people as return from India to England generally find 
the English winter trying. I give the fact for what it may 
be worth, remarking only that the cold of an English 
winter is generally damp, while that of the Antarctic is dry, 
so far at any rate as the atmosphere is concerned. Bowers 
himself always professed the greatest indifference not only 
to cold, but also to heat, and his indifference was not that 
of a ‘ poseur,’ as many experiences will show. 
At the same time he was temperamentally one who 
refused to admit difficulties. Indeed, if he did not actually 
welcome them he greeted them with scorn, and in scorning 
went far to master them. Scott believed that difficulties 
were made to be overcome: Bowers certainly believed that 
he was the man to overcome them. This self-confidence 
was based on a very deep and broad religious feeling, and 
carried conviction with it. The men swore by him both on 
the ship and ashore. ‘“‘He’s all right,”’ was their judgment 
of hisseamanship, which was admirable. “I like being with 
Birdie, because I always know where I am,” was the remark 
made to me by an officer one evening as we pitched the 
tent. We had just been spending some time in picking up 
a depdt which a less able man might well have missed. 
As he was one of the two or three greatest friends of my 
life I find it hard to give the reader a mental picture of 
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