AT HUT POINT 



crack is produced. The unaccustomed pulling made 

 us tired, and we decided to pitch a camp about four 

 miles off Hut Point, before reaching Castle Rock. 

 Castle Rock is distant three miles and a half from Hut 

 Point, and we had always noticed that after we got 

 abeam of the rock the final march on to the hut seemed 

 very long, for we were always weary by that time. The 

 temperature was now about forty-five degrees below zero 

 Fahr., and my two companions were feeling for the 

 first time the discomfort of using metal utensils in this 

 extreme cold. The Professor's fingers seemed to have 

 a wonderful power of resisting frost-bite. We were 

 travelling in a light that resembled broad twilight, but 

 as the sun was still below the horizon there were no 

 shadows, and we stumbled a great deal amongst the 

 rough ice. 



We reached the old Discovery winter quarters at 

 Hut Point on the morning of August 14, and after a good 

 breakfast I took the Professor and Armitage over all 

 the familiar ground. It was very interesting to me 

 to revisit the old scenes. There was the place where, 

 years before, when the Discovery was lying fast in the 

 ice close to the shore, we used to dig for the ice that 

 was required for the supply of fresh water. The marks 

 of the picks and shovels were still to be seen. I noticed 

 an old case bedded in the ice, and remembered the day 

 when it had been thrown away. Round the hut was 

 collected a very large amount of debris, including seal- 

 skins and the skeletons of seals and penguins. Some 

 of the seal-skins had still blubber attached, though the 

 skuas had evidently been at work on them. We went 

 up towards the Gap and had a look at the only lake, 

 or rather pool, that lay near these winter quarters. It 

 was quite a tiny sheet of water in comparison with the 

 large lakes at Cape Royds, and I realised more fully 

 15 225 



