SOUTH 
and we could see others in the water outside the reef. Every 
now and then one of the animals would rise in the shallows and 
crawl up on the beach, which evidently was a recognized place 
of resort for its kind. A small rocky island which protected 
us to some extent from the north-westerly ^vind carried a 
ringed-penguin rookery. These birds were of migratory habit 
and might be expected to leave us before the winter set in 
fully, but in the meantime they were within our reach. These 
attractions, however, were overridden by the fact that the 
beach was open to the attack of wind and sea from the north- 
east and east. Easterly gales are more prevalent than western 
in that area of the Antarctic dm^ing the winter. Before turning 
in that night I studied the whole position and weighed every 
chance of getting the boats and our stores into a place of safety 
out of reach of the water. We om^selves might have clambered 
a little way up the snow-slopes, but we could not have taken 
the boats with us. The interior of the island was quite inacces- 
sible. We climbed up one of the slopes and found ourselves 
stopped soon by overhanging cliffs. The rocks behind the 
camp were much weathered, and we noticed the sharp, unworn 
boulders that had fallen from above. Clearly there was a 
danger from overhead if we camped at the back of the beach. 
We must move on. With that thought in mind I reached my 
tent and fell asleep on the rubbly ground, which gave a com- 
forting sense of stability. The fairy princess who would not 
rest on her seven downy mattresses because a pea lay under- 
neath the pile might not have miderstood the pleasure we 
all derived from the irregularities of the stones, which could 
not possibly break beneath us or drift away ; the very searching 
lumps were sweet reminders of our safety. 
Early next morning (April 15) all hands were astir. The 
sun soon shone brightly and we spread out oiir wet gear to dry, 
till the beach looked like a particularly disreputable gipsy 
camp. The boots and clothing had suffered considerably during 
our travels. I had decided to send Wild along the coast in the 
Stancomh Wills to look for a new camping-ground, and he and I 
discussed the details of the journey while eating our breakfast 
of hot seal steak and blubber. The camp I wished to find was 
146 
