SOUTH 
appreciate so much more the good things when we get 
home." 
Seals and penguins now seemed to studiously avoid us, and 
on taking stock of our provisions on March 21 I found that we ■ 
had only sufficient meat to last us for ten days, and the blubber 
would not last that time even, so one biscuit had to be our 
midday meal. 
Our meals were now practically all seal meat, with one 
biscuit at midday ; and I calculated that at this rate, allowing 
for a certain number of seals and penguins being caught, we 
could last for nearly six months. We were all very weak 
though, and as soon as it appeared likely that we should leave 
our floe and take to the boats I should have to considerably 
increase the ration. One day a huge sea-leopard climbed on 
to the floe and attacked one of the men. Wild, hearing the 
shouting, ran out and shot it. When it was cut up we found 
in its stomach several undigested fish. These we fried in some 
of its blubber, and so had our only fresh " fish meal during 
the whole of our drift on the ice. 
As fuel is so scarce we have had to resort to meltmg ice 
for drinking-water in tins against our bodies, and we treat the 
tins of dog-pemmican for breakfast similarly by keeping them 
in oiu- sleeping-bags all night. 
" The last two teams of dogs were shot to-day (April 2), 
the carcasses being dressed for food. We had some of the 
dog-meat cooked, and it was not at all bad — just like beef, 
but, of course, very tough." 
On April 5 we killed two seals, and this, with the sea-leopard 
of a few days before, enabled us to slightly increase our ration. 
Everybody now felt much happier ; such is the psychological 
effect of hunger appeased. 
On cold days a few strips of raw blubber were served out 
to all hands, and it is wonderful how it fortified us against 
the cold. 
Our stock of forty days' sledging rations remained practi- 
cally untouched, but once in the boats they were used at full 
strength. 
When we first settled down at Patience Camp the weather 
112 
