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THE STRAND MAGAZINE . 
with physical fitness, and the result was 
apparent in the high level of mutual appre- 
ciation, of intelligent co-operation, and wise 
enthusiasm. There were mistakes, of course, 
but errors due to excess rather than defect 
of zeal ; while a specialist in some practical 
job might be unequal to the abstract 
calculations connected with it. The salient 
fact was that the human relations, the 
moral and social atmosphere, from first to 
last continued without a cloud. 
Time after time Scott is impelled to note 
this “ marked and beneficent characteristic of 
our community,” so greatly due, in his con- 
sidered opinion, to the object-lesson of Wilson’s 
patient and thorough work, his constant help 
to others’ efforts, and his sound judgment to 
which one and all appealed on matters little 
or great. To quote but one passage : “I 
am very much impressed with the extra- 
ordinary and general cordiality of the relations 
which exist amongst our people. I do not 
suppose that a statement of the real truth — 
namely, that there is no friction at all — will 
be credited ; it is so generally thought that 
the many rubs of such a life as this are quietly 
and purposely sunk in oblivion. With me 
there is no need to draw a veil ; there is 
nothing to cover. There are no strained 
relations in this hut, and nothing more 
emphatically evident than the universally 
amicable spirit which is shown on all occa- 
sions. Such a state of affairs would be 
delightfully surprising under any conditions ; 
but it is much more so when one remembers 
the diverse assortment of our company. 
This theme is worthy of expansion. To-night 
Oates, captain in a smart cavalry regiment, 
has been ‘ scrapping ’ over chairs and tables 
with Debenham, a young Australian student. 
It is a triumph to have collected such men.” 
This interesting and characteristic passage 
is reproduced below in facsimile. 
Outdoor Research. 
Even the winter admitted of various forms 
of outdoor research, apart from keeping the 
meteorological and physical records or work- 
ing out results under the roof of the hut. In 
the ice-holes, sedulously kept open, were 
fish-traps, which supplied Dr. Atkinson with 
specimens for his novel and interesting 
investigations into parasites ; in another, a 
tide-gauge, and farther out an instrument for 
measuring the sea-currents. Many new obser- 
vations of curious facts were but re-discoveries 
of what had been found ten years before, but 
not published. Local geology, the ice and its 
growth, offered obvious fields for observation. 
Balloons. 
More novel were experiments with Simpson’s 
small balloons to test the air - currents and 
the temperature of the upper air. 
As the balloon travelled a three-mile thread 
of silk ran out along the ground, so that its 
course could afterwards be traced. A slow 
match between the balloon and the recording 
instrument, with its parachute, was timed to 
burn through after an ascent of so many 
minutes, and the instrument floated to earth. 
Records were also kept of the men’s weight 
CAPTAIN SCOTT’S TRIBUTE TO HIS COMRADES. 
REPRODUCED IX FACSIMILE FROM HIS JOURNALS, BY SPECIAL PERMISSION OF LADY SCOTT. 
