THE HEART OF THE ANTARCTIC 



sunk in the various lakes around us. Mawson was 

 occupied with his physical work, which included auroral 

 observations and the study of the structure of the ice, 

 the determination of atmospheric electricity and many 

 other things. In fact, we were all busy, and there 

 was little cause for us to find the time hang heavy 

 on our hands; the winter months sped by and this 

 without our having to sleep through them, as has often 

 been done before by polar expeditions. This was due 

 to the fact that we were only a small party and that 

 our household duties, added to our scientific work, 

 fully occupied our time. In another chapter the reader 

 will find a short summary of the scientific work of each 

 department, and will see from this that in a practically 

 unknown country and under such peculiar weather con- 

 ditions, there were many things of interest in natural 

 science to be studied. 



It would only be repetition to chronicle our doings 

 from day to day during the months that elapsed from 

 the disappearance of the sun until the time arrived 

 when the welcome daylight came back to us. We 

 lived under conditions of steady routine, affected only 

 by short spells of bad weather, and found amply suffi- 

 cient to occupy ourselves in our daily work, so that 

 the spectre known as " polar ennui " never made its 

 appearance. Mid-winter's Day and birthdays were the 

 occasions of festivals, when our teetotal regime was 

 broken through and a sort of mild spree indulged in. 

 Before the sun finally went hockey and football were 

 the outdoor games, while indoors at night some of us 

 played bridge, poker and dominoes. Joyce, Wild, 

 Marston and Day during the winter months spent much 

 time in the production of the " Aurora Australis," the 

 first book ever written, printed, illustrated and bound 



212 



