VENTILATION 
In these circumstances, therefore, the rate of extraction 
of air automatically rises, and since high wind is usually 
accompanied with marked rise of temperature, the rise 
occurs at the most convenient season, when the interior 
of the hut would otherwise tend to become oppressively 
warm. The practical result of the system is that in spite 
of the numbers of people living in the hut, the cooking, 
and the smoking, the inside air is nearly always warm, 
sweet, and fresh. 
There is usually a drawback to the best of arrange- 
ments, and I have said ' nearly 9 always. The exceptions 
in this connection occur when the outside air is calm and 
warm and the galley fire, as in the early morning, needs 
to be worked up ; it is necessary under these conditions 
to temporarily close the ventilating holes, and if at this 
time the cook is intent on preparing our breakfast with 
a frying-pan we are quickly made aware of his inten- 
tions. A combination of this sort is rare and lasts only 
for a very short time, for directly the fire is aglow the 
ventilator can be opened again and the relief is almost 
instantaneous. 
This very satisfactory condition of inside air must be 
a highly important factor in the preservation of health. 
I have to-day regularised the pony 1 nicknames ' ; 
I must leave it to Drake to pull out the relation to the 
' proper ' names according to our school contracts ! * 
* Officially the ponies were named after the several schools which 
had subscribed for their purchase; but sailors are inveterate nick- 
namers, and the unofficial humour prevailed. See Appendix, Note 18. 
