132 
FROM EDINBURGH TO THE ANTARCTIC 
look ridiculous being towed through the water like a wet 
rag, with his bill gaping wide open, showing a pink throat ; 
on deck his wings were crossed and so locked behind him. 
He measured ten feet across his outstretched wings. This 
was quite a small one, I have heard of one that was caught 
measuring fifteen feet from tip to tip. The skin being 
possibly of < commurrcial vallye ' was stowed away, and the 
doctor gave me a lecture on its internal economy. The 
lightness of the bones is very remarkable, those of a 
twenty-pound albatross only weigh two and a half pounds; 
they look as if they would weigh much more. The men 
use the radius bone of the forearm for a pipe stem, and 
the skin of their feet makes a very pretty tobacco pouch. 
Our thoughts are now concentrated on the Falklands, 
longing to see land of any kind, rocks and earth, green 
grass and trees, something to jump on that is not ever- 
lastingly on the move. There is nothing more delightful 
by contrast than the gentle roll *of a sailing craft, but 
continued for nearly three months it becomes tiresome. 
How we long, too, for milk and green food, and for fresh 
water especially ! 
A fortnight of fine weather ought to bring us to the 
islands, but fine weather is hardly what we can expect 
down in these stormy latitudes. 
To-day the cook's galley was taken down and stowed 
below, and now Peter cooks in the focsle. This has the 
advantage of keeping the focsle warm and dry, but it 
makes the place very crowded ; there are some thirty-seven 
living there, lying on shelves, two on each shelf ; what with 
their chests and wet clothes, want of light and air, and the 
