THE HEART OF THE ANTARCTIC 



lot of holes, and it was removed directly the water had 

 come to the boil. We used to sit round the cooker 

 waiting for our food, and at last the hoosh would be 

 ready and would be ladled into the pannikins by the 

 cook of the week. The scanty allowance of biscuit 

 would be distributed and we would commence the meal. 

 In a couple of minutes the hot food would be gone, and 

 we would gnaw carefully round the sides of our biscuits, 

 making them last as long as possible. Marshall used 

 sometimes to stand his pannildn of hoosh in the snow 

 for a little while, because it got thicker as it cooled, 

 but it was a debatable point whether this paid. One 

 seemed to be getting more solid food, but there was a 

 loss of warmth, and in the minus temperatures on the 

 plateau we found it advisable to take our hoosh very hot. 

 We would make the biscuits last as long as possible, 

 and sometimes we tried to save a bit to eat in the 

 sleeping-bag later on, but it was hard to do this. If 

 one of us dropped a crumb, the others would point it 

 out, and the owner would wet his finger in his mouth 

 and pick up the morsel. Not the smallest fragment 

 was allowed to escape. 



We used to " turn backs " in order to ensure equitable 

 division of the food. The cook would pour the hoosh 

 into the pannikins and arrange the biscuits in four heaps. 

 Perhaps some one would suggest that one pannikin had 

 rather less in it than another, and if this view was endorsed 

 by the others there would be a readjustment. Then 

 when we were all satisfied that the food had been 

 divided as fairly as possible, one man would turn his 

 back, and another, pointing at one pannikin or group of 

 biscuits, would say, "Whose?" The man who had his 

 back turned, and therefore could not see the food, 

 would give a name, and so the distribution would 

 proceed^ each of us always feeling sure that the smallest 



^ OS/ 



