2 
SCOTT'S LAST EXPEDITION 
[November 
reduced. The ship still leaks, but the amount of water 
entering is little more than one would expect in an old 
wooden vessel. 
The stream which was visible and audible inside the 
stern has been entirely stopped. Without steam the leak 
can now be kept under with the hand pump by two daily 
efforts of a quarter of an hour to twenty minutes. As the 
ship was, and in her present heavily laden condition, it 
would certainly have taken three to four hours each day. 
Before the ship left dock, Bowers and Wyatt were at 
work again in the shed with a party of stevedores, sorting 
and relisting the shore party stores. Everything seems 
to have gone without a hitch. The various gifts and 
purchases made in New Zealand were collected — butter, 
cheese, bacon, hams, some preserved meats, tongues. 
Meanwhile the huts were erected on the waste ground 
beyond the harbour works. Everything was overhauled, 
sorted, and marked afresh to prevent difficulty in the 
South. Davics, our excellent carpenter, Forde, Abbott, 
and Kcohane were employed in this work. The large 
green tent was put up and proper supports made for it. 
When the ship came out of dock she presented a scene 
of great industry. Officers and men of the ship, with a 
party of stevedores, were busy storing the holds. Miller's 
men were building horse stalls, caulking the decks, re- 
securing the deck-houses, putting in bolts and various small 
fittings. The engine-room staff and Anderson's people on 
the engines ; scientists were stowing their laboratories ; 
the cook refitting his galley, and so forth— not a single 
spot but had its band of workers. 
