OCEAN CAMP 
difEerent conditions now ! Our ship crushed and lost, and we 
ourselves drifting on a piece of ice at the mercy of the winds. 
However, in spite of occasional setbacks due to unfavourable 
winds, our drift was in the main very satisfactory, and this 
went a long way towards keeping the men cheerful. 
As the drift was mostly affected by the winds, the weather 
was closely watched by all, and Hussey, the meteorologist, was 
called upon to make forecasts every four hours, and some- 
times more frequently than that. A meteorological screen, con- 
taining thermometers and a barograph, had been erected on 
a post frozen into the ice, and observations were taken every 
four hours. When we first left the ship the weather was cold 
and miserable, and altogether as unpropitious as it could possibly 
have been for our attempted march. Our first few days at 
Ocean Camp were passed under much the same conditions. 
At nights the temperature dropped to zero, with blinding snow 
and drift. One-hour watches Avere instituted, all hands taking 
their tiu-n, and in such weather this job was no sinecrue. The 
watchman had to be continually on the alert for cracks in the 
ice, or any sudden changes in the ice conditions, and also had 
to keep his eye on the dogs, who often became restless, fretful, 
and quarrelsome in the early hours of the morning. At the 
end of his hour he was very glad to crawl back into the com- 
parative warmth of his frozen sleeping-bag. 
On November 6 a dull, overcast day developed into a howling 
blizzard from the south-west, with snow and low drift. Only 
thos3 who were compelled left the shelter of their tent. Deep 
drifts formed everywhere, burying sledges and provisions to a 
depth of two feet, and the snow piling up round the tents 
threatened to burst the thin fabric. The fine drift found its 
way in through the ventilator of the tent, which was accordingly 
plugged up with a spare sock. 
This lasted for two days, when one man wrote : ''The 
blizzard continued through the morning, but cleared towards 
noon, and it was a beautiful evening ; but we would far rather 
have the screeching blizzard with its searching drift and cold 
damp wind, for we drifted about eleven miles to the north during 
the night." 
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