OCEAN CAMP 
much the same as one another. We work ; we talk ; we eat. 
All 5 how we eat ! No longer on short rations, we are a trifle 
more exacting than we were when we first commenced our 
^ simple life/ but by comparison with home standards we are 
positive barbarians, and our gastronomic rapacity knows no 
bounds. 
All is eaten that comes to each tent, and everything is 
most carefully and accurately divided into as many equal 
portions as there are men in the tent. One member then closes 
his eyes or turns his head away and calls out the names at 
random, as the cook for the day points to each portion, saying 
at the same time, ' Whose ? ' 
" Partiality, however unintentional it may be, is thus 
entirely obviated and every one feels satisfied that all is fair, 
even though one may look a little enviously at the next man's 
helping, which differs in some especially appreciated detail from 
one's own. We break the Tenth Commandment energetically, 
but as we are all in the same boat in this respect; no one says 
a word. We understand each other's feelmgs quite sympa- 
thetically. 
It is just like school-days over again, and very jolly it is 
too, for the time being ! " 
Later on, as the prospect of wintering in the pack became 
more apparent, the rations had to be considerably reduced. 
By that time, however, everybody had become more accus- 
tomed to the idea and took it quite as a matter of course. 
Our meals now consisted in the main of a fairly generous 
helping of seal or penguin, either boiled or fried. As one man 
wrote : We are now having enough to eat, but not by any 
means too much, and every one is always hungry enough to 
eat every scrap he can get. Meals are invariably taken 
very seriously, and little talking is done till the hoosh is 
finished." 
Our tents made somewhat cramped quarters, especially 
during meal-times. " Living in a tent without any furniture 
requires a little getting used to. For our meals we have to 
sit on the floor, and it is surprising how awkward it is to eat 
in such a position ; it is better by far to kneel and sit back on 
91 
