THE HEART OF THE ANTARCTIC 



thought of walking them down over a gang-plank on to 

 the ice, but afterwards decided to build a rough horse- 

 box, get them into this, and then sling it over the side 

 by means of the main gaff. We covered the decks with 

 ashes and protected all sharp projections with bags and 

 bales of fodder. The first pony went in fairly quietly, 

 and in another moment or two had the honour of being 

 the pioneer horse on the Antarctic ice. One after 

 another the ponies were led out of the stalls into the horse- 

 box and were slung over on to the ice. Presently it 

 came to Grisi's turn, and we looked for a lively time with 

 this pony, for he was the most spirited and in the best 

 condition of all. Our anticipations proved correct, and 

 there were a few lively minutes before he was secured in 

 the horse-box, the door of which was fastened with a 

 rope. It was only by Mackay exerting all his strength 

 at the most critical moment that we got the pony in. 

 As the box was being hoisted up, his violent kicking 

 threatened to demolish the somewhat frail structure, and 

 it was with a devout feeling of thankfulness that I saw 

 him safe on the ice. They all seemed to feel themselves 

 at home, for they immediately commencd pawing at the 

 snow as they are wont to do in their own far-away Man- 

 churian home, where, in the winter, they scrape away the 

 snow to get out the rough tussocky grass that lies under- 

 neath. It was 3.30 a.m. on the morning of the 6th 

 before we got all the ponies off the ship, and they were 

 at once led up on to the land. The poor beasts were 

 naturally stiff after the constant buffeting they had 

 experienced in their narrow stalls on the rolling ship for 

 over a month, and they walked very stiffly ashore. 



They negotiated the tide-crack all right, the fissure 

 being narrow, and were soon picketed out on some bare 

 earth at the entrance to a valley which lay about fifty 



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