THE HEART OF THE ANTARCTIC 



feature, due to having the generating-plant in our living- 

 room, was the unpleasant smell given off when the car- 

 bide tanks were being recharged, but we soon got used 

 to this, though the daily charging always drew down 

 strong remarks on the unlucky head of Day, who had 

 the acetylene plant especially under his charge. He did 

 not have a hitch with it all the time. Flexible steel tubes 

 were carried from the tank, and after being wound round 

 the beams of the roof, served to suspend the lights at the 

 required positions. 



A long ridge of rope wire was stretched from one end 

 of the hut to the other on each side, seven feet out from 

 the wall; then at intervals of six feet another wire was 

 brought out from the wall of the hut, and made fast to 

 the fore and aft wire. These lines marked the boundaries 

 of the cubicles, and sheets of duck sewn together hung 

 from them, making a good division. Blankets were 

 served out to hang in the front of the cubicle, in case the 

 inhabitants wanted at any time to " sport their oak." 

 As each of the cubicles had distinctive features in the 

 furnishing and general design, especially as regards beds, 

 it is worth while to describe them fully. This is not so 

 trivial a matter as it may appear to some readers, for 

 during the winter months the inside of the hut was the 

 whole inhabited world to us. The wall of Adams' and 

 Marshall's cubicle, which was next to my room, was fitted 

 with shelves made out of Venesta cases, and there was 

 so much neatness and order about this apartment that 

 it was known by the address, " No. 1 Park Lane." In 

 front of the shelves hung little gauze curtains, tied up 

 with blue ribbon, and the literary tastes of the occupants 

 could be seen at a glance from the bookshelves. In 

 Adams' quarter the period of the French Revolution and 

 the Napoleonic era filled most of his bookshelves, though 

 a complete edition of Dickens came in a good second. 



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