ion] A CLEAR DAY 217 
day : yesterday climbed about hills to see all possible. No 
one else left the hut. In the evening the wind fell and freez- 
ing continued during night (min.-i7°). This morning there 
is ice everywhere. I cannot help thinking it has come to 
stay. In Arrival Bay it is 6 to 7 inches thick, but the 
new pools beyond have only 1 inch of the regular elastic 
sludgy new ice. The sky cleared last night, and this 
morning we have sunshine for the first time for many 
days. If this weather holds for a day we shall be all 
right. We are getting towards the end of our luxuries, 
so that it is quite time we made a move — we are very 
near the end of the sugar. 
The skuas seem to have gone, the last was seen on 
Sunday. These birds were very shy towards the end of 
their stay, also very dark in plumage ; they did not 
seem hungry, and yet it must have been difficult for them 
to get food. 
The seals are coming up in our Bay — five last night. 
Luckily the dogs have not yet discovered them or the fact 
that the sea ice will bear them. 
Had an interesting talk with Taylor on agglomerate and 
basaltic dykes of Castle Rock. The perfection of the small 
cone craters below Castle Rock seem to support the 
theory we have come to, that there have been volcanic 
disturbances since the recession of the greater ice sheet. 
It is a great thing having Wright to fog out the ice 
problems, and he has had a good opportunity of observ- 
ing many interesting things here. He is keeping notes of 
ice changes and a keen eye on ice phenomena ; we have 
many discussions. 
