THE SLEEPING ARRANGEMENTS 



Marshall's shelves were stocked with bottles of medi- 

 cine, medical works, and some general literature. The 

 dividing curtain of duck was adorned by Marston with 

 life-sized coloured drawings of Napoleon and Joan of 

 Arc. Adams and Marshall did Sandow exercises daily, 

 and their example was followed by other men later on, 

 when the darkness and bad weather made open-air work 

 difficult. The beds of this particular cubicle were the 

 most comfortable in the hut, but took a little longer to rig 

 up at night than most of the others. This disadvantage 

 was more than compensated for by the free space gained 

 during the day, and by permission of the owners it was 

 used as consulting-room, dispensary, and operating 

 theatre. The beds consisted of bamboos lashed together 

 for extra strength, to which strips of canvas were attached, 

 so that each bed looked like a stretcher. The wall end 

 rested on stout cleats screwed on to the side of the hut, 

 the other ends on chairs, and, so supported, the occupants 

 slept soundly and comfortably. 



The next cubicle on the same side was occupied by 

 Marston and Day, and as the former was the artist and 

 the latter the general handy man of the expedition, 

 one naturally found an ambitious scheme of decoration. 

 The shelves were provided with beading, and the Venesta 

 boxes were stained brown. This idea was copied from 

 No. 1 Park Lane, where they had stained all their walls 

 with Condy's Fluid. Marston's and Day's cubicle was 

 known as " The Gables," presumably from the gabled 

 appearance of the shelves. Solid wooden beds, made 

 out of old packing-cases and upholstered with wood 

 shavings covered with blankets, made very comfortable 

 couches, one of which could be pushed during meal times 

 out of the way of the chairs. The artist's curtain was 

 painted to represent a fireplace and mantelpiece in 



141 



