THE HEART OF THE ANTARCTIC 



hut could have been laid. We crossed a narrow ridge 

 of rock just beyond the great boulder, and, turning a 

 little to the right up a small valley, found an ideal spot 

 for our winter quarters. The floor of this valley was 

 practically level and covered with a couple of feet of 

 volcanic earth; at the sides the bed rock was exposed, 

 but a rough eye measurement was quite sufficient to 

 show that there would be not only ample room for the hut 

 itself, but also for all the stores, and for a stable for the 

 ponies. A hill right behind this little valley would 

 serve as an excellent shelter to the hut from what we 

 knew was the prevailing strong wind, that is, the south- 

 easter. A glance at the illustrations will give the reader 

 a much better idea of this place than will a written 

 description, and he will see how admirably Nature had 

 provided us with a protection against her own destruc- 

 tive forces. 



After deciding on this place as our home for the winter 

 we went round a ridge to the south, and on a level piece 

 of ground overlooking the bay we came across the camp 

 where Captain Scott and Dr. Wilson spent some days 

 in January, 1904, whilst they were waiting for the arrival 

 of the relief ship. The camp had been placed in a splendid 

 position, with an uninterrupted view of the sea to the 

 north and the great panorama of the Western Mountains. 

 We found all the camp gear and cooking utensils just 

 as they had been left, and, considering the exposed 

 position of the camp, it appeared as though this spot 

 could not have been subjected to very violent storms, 

 otherwise the tent cloths, empty boxes, and other tilings 

 lying about would have been blown away. From the top 

 of the ridge we could see a small bay inside the wide one 

 in which the ship was lying, and a little more to the east- 

 ward was a smaller bay, the end of which formed the sea 

 limit to this part of the coast. A number of seals lying 



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