WORK AT THE HUT 



about 1800 lb. of provisions and gear should be taken 

 to the depot there, as a provision for the sledging-parties, 

 in case they should be cut off from Cape Royds by open 

 water on their return. Day had succeeded in running 

 the car right up to the Tongue, about twelve miles 

 from winter quarters. After a good meal of biscuits, 

 jam, lobscouse, tongue and cods' roe, the two parties 

 joined in getting the stores up to the depot. Then 

 they all went back to the winter quarters on the car 

 and the light sledges it had in tow, leaving the 

 heavy sledge that had been used by the support- 

 ing-party to be brought in at some later opportunity. 

 They reached the hut in the small hours of the 

 morning, and after another meal turned in for a good 

 sleep. 



Routine work occupied the men at the hut tor some 

 time after the return of the supporting-party. The 

 scientific members were more than a little grieved to 

 find that during the days when the hut had been un- 

 tenanted, for Murray, Day and Roberts had been away 

 too on a small expedition, some of the dogs had managed 

 to get loose, and had killed thirty or forty penguins. 

 We had from the first tried very hard to avoid any 

 accidents of this sort, for we did not want to cause any 

 unnecessary destruction of animal fife. The penguins 

 were now laying, and the men found that the eggs were 

 very good to eat. The egg of the penguin is about the 

 same size as that of a duck, and it has a transparent, 

 jelly-like white and a small yolk. It takes about eight 

 minutes' boiling to cook the egg nicely, and ten minutes 

 if it is required set hard to the centre. The shell is the 

 most beautiful dark-green inside, while the outer shell 

 is chalky and white, though generally stained prettily 

 by guano. Murray set aside a certain portion of the 

 rookery for the supply of eggs for " domestic purposes," 



23 



