NOTES
The first seals which we met on this expedition were seen on our voyage
from New Zealand before we entered the actual line of bergs. I did
not see them myself, but from descriptions I gathered that one was a
crabeater, and the other a Weddell seal. Later on, of course, seals
were to be seen in numbers, and one of the reasons why I selected Cape
Royds for our winter quarters was because I saw plenty of them lying on
the bay ice, and consequently we should not be likely to suffer from a
lack of fresh meat.
On the return from the Magnetic Pole, Mackay found two young seals,
which behaved in a most unusual manner, for instead of waiting without
moving, as did most of the Weddell seals, they scuttled away actively
and quickly.
Later on he discovered that these two seals belonged to the
comparatively rare variety known as Ross seal.
On our voyage back to New Zealand I sent a party to the seal rookery
near Pram Point to see if they could find a peculiar seal that we had
noticed on the previous night.
This seal was either a new species or the female of the Ross seal.
It was a small animal, about four feet six inches long, with a broad
white band from its throat right down to its tail on the underside. The
search, however, proved a fruitless one.
On our voyage out albatrosses were numerous, especially the sooty
species, the death of which, on Shelvoke's voyage, inspired Coleridge's
memorable poem. I noticed one, flying low between the two ships, strike
its wings against the wire tow-line, which had suddenly emerged from
the waves owing to the lift of the _Koonya's_ stern upon a sea.
Skua gulls were bathing and flying about in hundreds when we first
arrived at Cape Royds. But the most remarkable bird seen on our
expedition was discovered by Marshall and Adams on our southern
journey, remarkable because it was seen in latitude 83° 40′ South.
This bird was brown in colour with a white line under each wing, and it
flew just over their heads and disappeared to the south.
They were sure that it was not a skua gull, which was the only bird I
could think would venture so far south. Indeed, on my previous southern
trip, when in latitude 80° 30′ South, a skua gull had arrived shortly
after we had killed a dog.
As regards bears I have nothing to say except that there are none down
south.
[Illustration: The Special Surcharged Expedition Stamp with Postmark]
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Transcriber Note
Minor typos corrected. Text rejoined where split by images.