NEIGHBORHOOD OF THE HUT 



Erebus. There were many localities which became 

 favourite places for walks, and these are shown on the 

 accompanying map. Sandy Beach, about a mile away 

 to the north-west of the hut, was generally the goal of 

 any one taking exercise, when the uncertainty of the 

 weather warned us against venturing further afield, and 

 while the dwindling light still permitted us to go so far. 

 It was here that we sometimes exercised the ponies, and 

 they much enjoyed rolling in the soft sand. The beach 

 was formed of black volcanic sand, blown from the sur- 

 rounding hills, and later on the pressed-up ice, which had 

 been driven ashore by the southward movement of the 

 pack, also became covered with the wind-borne dust and 

 sand. The coast-line from Flagstaff Point right round 

 to Horse Shoe Bay, on the north side of Cape Royds, 

 was jagged and broken up. At some points ice-cliffs, in 

 others bare rocks, jutted out into the sea, and here and 

 there small beaches composed of volcanic sand were 

 interposed. Our local scenery, though not on a grand 

 scale, loomed large in the light of the moon as the winter 

 nights lengthened. Fantastic shadows made the heights 

 appear greater and the valleys deeper, casting a spell of 

 unreality around the place, which never seemed to touch 

 it by day. The greatest height of any of the numerous 

 sharp-pointed spurs of volcanic rock was not more than 

 three hundred feet, but we were infinitely better off as 

 regards the interest and the scenery of our winter quar- 

 ters than the expedition which wintered in McMurdo 

 Sound between 1901 and 1904. Our walks amongst the 

 hills and across the frozen lakes were a great source of 

 health and enjoyment, and as a field of work for geolo- 

 gists and biologists, Cape Royds far surpassed Hut 

 Point. The largest lake, which lay about half a mile to 

 the north-east, was named Blue Lake, from the intensely 

 vivid blue of the ice. This lake was peculiarly interesting 



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