394 
SCOTT'S LAST EXPEDITION 
[August 
of seal blubber — his stomach was full, but the sharpness 
of backbone showed that this condition had only been 
temporary. 
By daylight he looks very fit and strong, and he is 
evidently very pleased to be home again. 
We are absolutely at a loss to account for his adven- 
tures. It is exactly a month since he was missed — what 
on earth can have happened to him all this time ? One 
would give a great deal to hear his tale. Everything is 
against the theory that he was a wilful absentee — his 
previous habits and his joy at getting back. If he wished 
to get back, he cannot have been lost anywhere in the 
neighbourhood, for, as Meares says, the barking of the 
station dogs can be heard at least 7 or 8 miles away in 
calm weather, besides which there arc tracks everywhere 
and unmistakeablc landmarks to guide man or beast. I 
cannot but think the animal has been cut off, but this can 
only have happened by his being carried away on broken 
sea ice, and as far as we know the open water has never 
been nearer than 10 or 12 miles at the least. It is another 
enigma. 
On Saturday last a balloon was sent up. The thread 
was found broken a mile away. Bowers and Simpson 
walked many miles in search of the instrument, but could 
find no trace of it. The theory now propounded is that 
if there is strong differential movement in air currents, the 
thread is not strong enough to stand the strain as the 
balloon passes from one current to another. It is amazing, 
and forces the employment of a new system. It is now 
proposed to discard the thread and attach the instrument 
