THE FIRST ‘WINTER a7 
in the later stages. They should therefore have taken the 
worst tins, if any at all. 
Wilson was strongly of opinion that fresh meat alone 
would stop scurvy: on the Discovery seal meat cured it. 
As to scurvy on Scott’s Discovery Southern Journey, he 
made light of it: however, during the Winter Journey I 
remember Wilson stating that Shackleton several times 
fell in a faint as he got outside the tent, and he seems to 
have been seriously ill: Wilson knew that he himself had 
scurvy some time before the others knew it, because the 
discoloration of his gums did not show in front for some 
time. He did not think their dogs on that journey had 
scurvy, but ptomaine poisoning from fish which had 
travelled through the tropics. He was of opinion that on 
returning from sledge journeys on the Discovery they had 
wrongly attributed to scurvy such symptoms as rash on the 
body, swollen legs and ankles, which were rather the result 
of excessive fatigue. I may add that we had these signs on 
our return from the Winter Journey. 
Then there were lectures on Geology by Debenham, on 
birds and beasts and also on Sketching by Wilson, on Sur- 
veying by Evans: but perhaps no lecture remains more 
vividly in my memory than that given by Oates on what we 
called ‘The Mismanagement of Horses.’ Of course to 
all of us who were relying upon the ponies for the first 
stage of the Southern Journey the subject was of interest as 
well as utility, but the greater share of interest centred upon 
the lecturer, for it was certainly supposed that taciturn 
Titus could not have concealed about his person the gift of 
the gab, and it was as certain as it could be that the whole 
business was most distasteful to him. Imagine our delight 
when he proved to have an elaborate discourse with full 
notes of which no one had seen the preparation. “I have 
been fortunate in securing another night,” he mentioned 
amidst mirth, and proceeded to give us the most interest- 
ing and able account of the minds and bodies of horses in 
general and ours in particular. He ended with a story of 
a dinner-party at which he was a guest, probably against his 
will. A young lady was so late that the party sat down to 
