334 
SCOTT'S LAST EXPEDITION 
[September 
The number of dogs who were fit for work on the 
Barrier made exactly two teams. This left at the hut 
seven dogs who could work but were unable to stand the 
trials of a long journey. Debenham started to exercise 
these dogs for geological purposes around the hut. Small 
as the team was, it made up in obstinacy and trouble for 
its size. 
The chief trouble was getting away from the Cape 
down a pretty steep ice-foot, and the old leader, Stareek, 
generally refusing to do his duty when he was within 
reach of the hut, their direction at first was uncertain. 
On September 3, Wright, Debenham, Cherry-Garrard, 
and I made a small trip over the Barne Glacier to Cape 
Royds, Shackleton's winter quarters. Our main object 
was to secure a few luxuries and to leave some spirit and 
apparatus there for work to be done amongst the penguins 
in the summer. We found on arriving that the bays and 
the whole of the Sound as far as we could see were 
practically free from ice. 
On September 5, during a stiff blow, our chimney caught 
fire. The chimney consisted of an upright piece which 
went through the hut about the middle. A galley and a 
stove were at either end of the hut; from each of these a 
funnel ran and connected with the central upright piece. 
The fire started at first in the centre and gradually spread 
down towards the galley or cooking range. We got the 
flames under control by covering the chimney on the out- 
side with large slabs of snow, the inside of the hut mean- 
while being full of smoke and smuts. After some trouble 
the funnel was disjointed, taken out and swept through. 
