i9ti] LANDING IMPOSSIBLE 85 
wrong in assuming that all the guano is blown away. I 
think there must be a pretty good deposit in places. The 
penguins could be seen very clearly from the ship. On 
the large rookery they occupy an immense acreage, and 
one imagines have extended as far as shelter can be found. 
But on the small rookery they are patchy and there seems 
ample room for the further extension of the colonies. 
Such unused spaces would have been ideal for a wintering 
station if only some easy way could have been found to 
land stores. 
I noted many groups of penguins on the snow slopes 
overlooking the sea far from the rookeries, and one 
finds it difficult to understand why they meander away to 
such places. 
A number of killer whales rose close to the ship when 
we were opposite the rookery. What an excellent time 
these animals must have with thousands of penguins 
passing to and fro ! 
We saw our old Discovery post-office pole sticking up 
as erect as when planted, and we have been comparing all 
we have seen with old photographs. No change at all 
seems to have taken place anywhere, and this is very 
surprising in the case of the Barrier edge. 
From the penguin rookeries to the west it is a relentless 
coast with high ice cliffs and occasional bare patches of 
rock showing through. Even if landing were possible, 
the grimmest crcvasscd snow slopes lie behind to cut one 
off from the Barrier surface ; there is no hope of shelter 
till we reach Cape Royds. 
Meanwhile all hands are employed making a running 
