THE HEART OF THE ANTARCTIC 



Hurrying over to the hut I was glad to see that it was 

 intact, and then I received full details of the occurrences 

 of the last three days on shore. The report was not very 

 reassuring as regards the warmth of the hut, for the 

 inmates stated that, in spite of the stove being alight 

 the whole time, no warmth was given off. Of course 

 the building was really not at all complete. It had not 

 been lined, and there were only makeshift protections 

 for the windows, but what seemed a grave matter was 

 the behaviour of the stove, for on the efficiency of this 

 depended not only our comfort but our very exist- 

 ence. The shore-party had experienced a very heavy 

 gale indeed. The hut had trembled and shaken the 

 whole time, and if the situation had not been so admir- 

 able I doubt whether there would have been a hut at all 

 after the gale. A minor accident had occurred, for our 

 fodder hut had failed to withstand the gale, and one of 

 the walls had collapsed, killing one of Possum's pups. 

 The roof had been demolished at the same time. 



On going down to our main landing-place, the full 

 effect of the blizzard became apparent. There was 

 hardly a sign to be seen of the greater part of our stores. 

 At first it appeared that the drifting snow had covered the 

 cases and bales and the coal, but a closer inspection 

 showed that the real disappearance of our stores from 

 view was due to the sea. Such was the force of the wind 

 blowing straight on to the shore from the south that the 

 spray had been flung in sheets over everything and had 

 been carried by the wind for nearly a quarter of a mile 

 inland, and consequently in places, our precious stores 

 lay buried to a depth of five or six feet in a mass of frozen 

 sea water. The angles taken up by the huddled masses 

 of cases and bales had made the surface of this mass of ice 

 assume a most peculiar shape, as may be seen from the 

 illustrations. We feared that it would take weeks of 



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