THE MESSMAN'S WORK 



and sweeping out the hut was gone through. By 

 8.30 the messman had finished his duties for the day, 

 and his turn did not come round again for another 

 thirteen days. The state of the weather made the duties 

 lighter or heavier, for if the day happened to be windy, 

 the emptying of dish-water and ashes and the getting in 

 of fresh ice was an unpleasant job. In a blizzard it was 

 necessary to put on one's Burberries even to walk the 

 few yards to the ice-box and back. 



In addition to the standing jobs of night-watchman 

 and messman there were also special duties for various 

 members of the expedition who had particular depart- 

 ments to look after. Adams every morning, directly 

 after breakfast, wound up the chronometers and chro- 

 nometer watches, and rated the instruments. He then 

 attended to the meteorological work and took out his 

 pony for exercise. If he were going far afield he dele- 

 gated the readings to some members of the scientific 

 staff who were generally in the vicinity of winter quarters. 

 Marshall, as surgeon, attended to any wounds, and 

 issued necessary pills, and then took out one of the ponies 

 for exercise. Wild, who was store-keeper, was respon- 

 sible for the issuing of all stores to Roberts, and had to 

 open the cases of tinned food and dig out of the snow 

 drifts in which it was buried the meat required for the 

 day, either penguin, seal or mutton. Joyce fed the 

 dogs after breakfast, the puppies getting a dish of 

 scraps over from our meals after breakfast and after 

 dinner. When daylight returned after our long night, 

 he worked at training the dogs to pull a sledge every 

 morning. The Professor generally went off to " geolo- 

 gise " or to continue the plane-table survey of our 

 winter quarters, whilst Priestley and Murray worked 

 on the floe dredging or else took the temperatures of 

 the ice in shafts which the former had energetically 



211 



