LIFE AT HUT POINT 
221 
of satisfaction can be heard every night — or nearly every 
night; for two nights ago [April 4] Wilson, who has 
proved a genius in the invention of ' plats/ almost ruined 
his reputation. He proposed to fry the seal liver in penguin 
blubber, suggesting that the latter could be freed from all 
rankness. The blubber was obtained and rendered down 
with great care, the result appeared as delightfully pure 
fat free from smell ; but appearances were deceptive ; 
the i fry y proved redolent of penguin, a concentrated 
essence of that peculiar flavour which faintly lingers in 
the meat and should not be emphasised. Three heroes 
got through their pannikins, but the rest of us decided 
to be contented with cocoa and biscuit after tasting 
the first mouthful. After supper we have an hour or so 
of smoking and conversation — a cheering, pleasant hour — 
in which reminiscences are exchanged by a company which 
has very literally had world-wide experience. There is 
scarce a country under the sun which one or another 
of us has not travelled in, so diverse are our origins and 
occupations. An hour or so after supper we tail off one 
by one, spread out our sleeping-bags, take off our shoes 
and creep into comfort, for our reindeer bags are really 
warm and comfortable now that they have had a chance 
of drying, and the hut retains some of the heat generated 
in it. Thanks to the success of the blubber lamps and to 
a fair supply of candles, we can muster ample light to 
read for another hour or two, and so tucked up in our 
furs we study the social and political questions of the 
past decade. 
We muster no less than sixteen. Seven of us pretty 
