n8 SCOTT'S LAST EXPEDITION [January 
io tons were got off before night. The organisation 
of this work is extremely good. The loose rocks are 
pulled up, some 30 or 40 feet up the hillside, placed on 
our heavy rough sledges and rushed down to the floe on 
a snow track ; here they are laden on pony sledges and 
transported to the ship. I slept on board the ship and 
found it colder than the camp — the cabins were below 
freezing all night and the only warmth existed in the 
cheery spirit of the company. The cold snap froze the 
water in the boiler and Williams had to light one of the fires 
this morning. I shaved and bathed last night (the first 
time for 10 days) and wrote letters from breakfast till 
tea time to-day. Meanwhile the ballast team has been 
going on merrily, and to-night Pennell must have some 
26 tons on board. 
It was good to return to the camp and see the progress 
which had been made even during such a short absence. 
The grotto has been much enlarged and is, in fact, now big 
enough to hold all our mutton and a considerable quantity 
of seal and penguin. 
Close by Simpson and Wright have made surprising 
progress in excavating for the differential magnetic hut. 
They have already gone in 7 feet and, turning a corner, 
commenced the chamber, which is to be 13 feet X 5 feet. 
The hard ice of this slope is a godsend and both grottoes 
will be ideal for their purposes. 
The cooking range and stove have been placed in the 
hut and now chimneys are being constructed ; the porch 
is almost finished as well as the interior; the various 
carpenters are busy with odd jobs and it will take them 
