THE HEART OF THE ANTARCTIC 



I had secured in London twenty tons of maize and 

 ten hundredweight of compressed Maujee ration for 

 the feeding of the ponies in the Antarctic. The maize 

 was packed in about seven hundred tin-lined, air-tight 

 cases, and the ration was in one-pound, air-tight 

 tins. This ration consists of dried beef, carrots, milk, 

 currants and sugar, and it provides a large amount of 

 nourishment with comparatively little weight. One 

 pound of the ration will absorb four pounds of water, 

 and the ponies were very fond of it. We also secured 

 in Australia ten tons of compressed fodder, consisting 

 of oats, bran and chaff. This fodder was packed in 

 two hundred and fifty small bales. I purchased for the 

 dogs one ton and a half of dog biscuits, and proposed to 

 make up their rations with seal meat. 



The final preparations involved an enormous amount 

 of work, but by December 31 everything was ready. 

 Quarters were provided on the Nimrod for the scientific 

 staff by enclosing a portion of the after-hold, and 

 constructing cabins which were entered by a steep 

 ladder from the deck-house. The quarters were certainly 

 small, in fact there was just room for the bunks and 

 nothing else, and they were promptly named " Oyster 

 Alley," for some reason not on record. As the day 

 of departure approached and the scientists brought 

 their personal belongings, the alley reached a state of 

 congestion that can hardly be imagined. The ponies 

 were to be carried on deck, and ten stout stalls were 

 built for them. The motor-car was enclosed in a large 

 case and made fast with chains on the after-hatch 

 from whence it could be transferred easily on to the 

 ice when the occasion arose. The deck load was heavy 

 and included cases of maize, tins of carbide for the 

 manufacture of acetylene gas, a certain quantity of 

 coal and the sledges. The Nimrod was low in the water 



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