THE HEART OF THE ANTARCTIC 



steadiness of the ship after the terrible rolling. The 

 flanks of most of the horses had been skinned by the 

 constant knocking and rubbing against the sides of their 

 stalls, and Zulu was in such a bad condition from this 

 cause that I decided to have him shot at once. This left 

 us with eight ponies, and we considered ourselves for- 

 tunate in reaching winter quarters with the loss of only- 

 two animals. 



So far the voyage had been without accident to any 

 of the staff, but on the morning of the 31st, when all 

 hands were employed getting stores out of the after-hatch, 

 preparatory to landing them, a hook on the tackle slipped 

 and, swinging suddenly across the deck, struck Mackin- 

 tosh in the right eye. He fell on the deck in great pain, 

 but was able, in a few minutes, to walk with help to Eng- 

 land's cabin, where Marshall examined him. It was 

 apparent that the sight of the eye was completely de- 

 stroyed, so he was put under chloroform, and Marshall 

 removed the eye, being assisted at the operation by the 

 other two doctors, Michell and Mackay. It was a great 

 comfort to me to know that the expedition had the ser- 

 vices of thoroughly good surgeons. Mackintosh felt the 

 loss of his eye keenly; not so much because the sight 

 was gone, but because it meant that he could not re- 

 main with us in the Antarctic. He begged to be allowed 

 to stay, but when Marshall explained that he might lose 

 the sight of the other eye, unless great care were taken, 

 he accepted his ill-fortune without further demur, and 

 thus the expedition lost, for a time, one of 'its most valuable 

 members. 



Whilst we were waiting at the ice I thought it as 

 well that a small party should proceed to Hut Point, and 

 report on the condition of the hut left there by the 

 Discovery expedition, for it was possible that, after five 

 year's disuse, it might be drifted up with snow. I decided 



88 



