THE FIRST WINTER 23 
suggestions which he had worked out scientifically for those 
of the Polar Journey. His arguments were sound enough 
to disarm the hostility if not to convert to his opinions at 
least one scientist who had come to hear him strongly of 
opinion that an untrained man should not discuss so com- 
plex a subject. The second lecture, on the Evolution of 
Polar Clothing, was also the fruit of much work. The 
general conclusion come to (and this was after the Winter 
Journey) was that our own clothing and equipment could 
not be bettered in any important respect, though it must 
be always understood that the expedition wore wind-proof 
clothing and not furs, except for hands and feet. When 
man-hauling, wind-proof, I am convinced, cannot be im- 
proved upon, but for dog-driving in cold weather I suspect 
that furs may be better. 
The table was cleared after supper and we sat round it 
for these lectures three times a week. There was no com- 
pulsion about them, and the seamen only turned up for 
those which especially interested them, such as Meares’ 
vivid account of his journeyings on the Eastern or Chinese 
borderland of Thibet. This land is inhabited by the 
‘Eighteen Tribes,’ the original inhabitants of Thibet 
who were driven out by the present inhabitants, and 
Meares told us chiefly of the Lolos who killed his com- 
panion Brook after having persuaded him that they were 
friendly and anxious to help him. “He had no pictures 
and very makeshift maps, yet he held us really entranced 
for nearly two hours by the sheer interest of his adventures. 
The spirit of the wanderer is in Meares’ blood: he has no 
happiness but in the wild places of the earth. I have never 
met so extreme a type. Even now he is looking forward to 
getting away by himself to Hut Point, tired already of our 
scant measure of civilization.’’! 
Three lectures a week were too many in the opinion of 
the majority. The second winter with our very reduced 
company we had two a week, and I feel sure that this was 
an improvement. No officer nor seaman, however, could 
have had too many of Ponting’s lectures, which gave us 
1 Scort’s Last Expedition, vol. i. p. 396. 
