204 SCOTT'S LAST EXPEDITION [March 
Debenham has become principal cook, and evidently 
enjoys the task. 
Taylor is full of good spirits and anecdote, an addition 
to the party. 
Yesterday after a beautifully fine morning we got a 
strong northerly wind which blew till the middle of the 
night, crowding the young ice up the Strait. Then the 
wind suddenly shifted to the south, and I thought we were 
in for a blizzard ; but this morning the wind has gone to 
the S.E. — the stratus cloud formed by the north wind is 
dissipating, and the damp snow deposited in the night is 
drifting. It looks like a fine evening. 
Steadily we are increasing the comforts of the hut. 
The stove has been improved out of all recognition ; with 
extra stove-pipes we get no back draughts, no smoke 
inside, whilst the economy of fuel is much increased. 
Insulation inside and out is the subject we are now 
attacking. 
The young ice is going to and fro, but the sea refuses 
to freeze over so far — except in the region of Pram Point, 
where a bay has remained for some four days holding some 
pieces of Barrier in its grip. These pieces have come from 
the edge of the Barrier and some are crumbling already, 
showing a deep and rapid surface deposit of snow and 
therefore the probability that they are drifted sea ice not 
more than a year or two old, the depth of the drift being 
due to proximity to an old Barrier edge. 
I have just taken to pyjama trousers and shall don an 
extra shirt — I have been astonished at the warmth which 
I have felt throughout in light clothing. So far I have 
