The Return of the Sun
_Thursday, August_ 3.--We have had such a long spell of fine clear
weather without especially low temperatures that one can scarcely
grumble at the change which we found on waking this morning, when
the canopy of stratus cloud spread over us and the wind came in
those fitful gusts which promise a gale. All day the wind force has
been slowly increasing, whilst the temperature has risen to -15°,
but there is no snow falling or drifting as yet. The steam cloud of
Erebus was streaming away to the N.W. this morning; now it is hidden.
Our expectations have been falsified so often that we feel ourselves
wholly incapable as weather prophets--therefore one scarce dares
to predict a blizzard even in face of such disturbance as exists. A
paper handed to Simpson by David, [28] and purporting to contain a
description of approaching signs, together with the cause and effect
of our blizzards, proves equally hopeless. We have not obtained a
single scrap of evidence to verify its statements, and a great number
of our observations definitely contradict them. The plain fact is
that no two of our storms have been heralded by the same signs.
The low Barrier temperatures experienced by the Crozier Party has
naturally led to speculation on the situation of Amundsen and his
Norwegians. If his thermometers continuously show temperatures below
-60°, the party will have a pretty bad winter and it is difficult to
see how he will keep his dogs alive. I should feel anxious if Campbell
was in that quarter. [29]
_Saturday, August_ 5.--The sky has continued to wear a disturbed
appearance, but so far nothing has come of it. A good deal of light
snow has been falling to-day; a brisk northerly breeze is drifting
it along, giving a very strange yet beautiful effect in the north,
where the strong red twilight filters through the haze.
The Crozier Party tell a good story of Bowers, who on their return
journey with their recovered tent fitted what he called a 'tent
downhaul' and secured it round his sleeping-bag and himself. If the
tent went again, he determined to go with it.
Our lecture programme has been renewed. Last night Simpson gave a
capital lecture on general meteorology. He started on the general
question of insolation, giving various tables to show proportion of
sun's heat received at the polar and equatorial regions. Broadly, in
latitude 80° one would expect about 22 per cent, of the heat received
at a spot on the equator.
He dealt with the temperature question by showing interesting tabular
comparisons between northern and southern temperatures at given
latitudes. So far as these tables go they show the South Polar summer
to be 15° colder than the North Polar, but the South Polar winter 3°
warmer than the North Polar, but of course this last figure would be
completely altered if the observer were to winter on the Barrier. I
fancy Amundsen will not concede those 3°!!
From temperatures our lecturer turned to pressures and the upward
turn of the gradient in high southern latitudes, as shown by the
_Discovery_ Expedition. This bears of course on the theory which
places an anticyclone in the South Polar region. Lockyer's theories
came under discussion; a good many facts appear to support them. The
westerly winds of the Roaring Forties are generally understood to be a
succession of cyclones. Lockyer's hypothesis supposes that there are
some eight or ten cyclones continually revolving at a rate of about
10° of longitude a day, and he imagines them to extend from the 40th
parallel to beyond the 60th, thus giving the strong westerly winds
in the forties and easterly and southerly in 60° to 70°. Beyond 70°
there appears to be generally an irregular outpouring of cold air from
the polar area, with an easterly component significant of anticyclone
conditions.
Simpson evolved a new blizzard theory on this. He supposes the surface
air intensely cooled over the continental and Barrier areas, and the
edge of this cold region lapped by warmer air from the southern limits
of Lockyer's cyclones. This would produce a condition of unstable
equilibrium, with great potentiality for movement. Since, as we have
found, volumes of cold air at different temperatures are very loath
to mix, the condition could not be relieved by any gradual process,
but continues until the stream is released by some minor cause, when,
the ball once started, a huge disturbance results. It seems to be
generally held that warm air is passing polewards from the equator
continuously at the high levels. It is this potentially warm air
which, mixed by the disturbance with the cold air of the interior,
gives to our winds so high a temperature.
Such is this theory--like its predecessor it is put up for cockshies,
and doubtless by our balloon work or by some other observations it
will be upset or modified. Meanwhile it is well to keep one's mind
alive with such problems, which mark the road of advance.
_Sunday, August_ 6.--Sunday with its usual routine. Hymn singing has
become a point on which we begin to take some pride to ourselves. With
our full attendance of singers we now get a grand volume of sound.
The day started overcast. Chalky is an excellent adjective to describe
the appearance of our outlook when the light is much diffused and
shadows poor; the scene is dull and flat.
In the afternoon the sky cleared, the moon over Erebus gave a straw
colour to the dissipating clouds. This evening the air is full of ice
crystals and a stratus forms again. This alternation of clouded and
clear skies has been the routine for some time now and is accompanied
by the absence of wind which is delightfully novel.
The blood of the Crozier Party, tested by Atkinson, shows a very slight
increase of acidity--such was to be expected, and it is pleasing to
note that there is no sign of scurvy. If the preserved foods had
tended to promote the disease, the length of time and severity of
conditions would certainly have brought it out. I think we should be
safe on the long journey.
I have had several little chats with Wilson on the happenings of
the journey. He says there is no doubt Cherry-Garrard felt the
conditions most severely, though he was not only without complaint,
but continuously anxious to help others.
Apropos, we both conclude that it is the younger people that have the
worst time; Gran, our youngest member (23), is a very clear example,
and now Cherry-Garrard at 26.
Wilson (39) says he never felt cold less than he does now; I suppose
that between 30 and 40 is the best all round age. Bowers is a wonder of
course. He is 29. When past the forties it is encouraging to remember
that Peary was 52!!
_Thursday, August_ 10.--There has been very little to record of late
and my pen has been busy on past records.
The weather has been moderately good and as before wholly
incomprehensible. Wind has come from a clear sky and from a clouded
one; we had a small blow on Tuesday but it never reached gale force;
it came without warning, and every sign which we have regarded as a
warning has proved a bogey. The fact is, one must always be prepared
for wind and never expect it.
The daylight advances in strides. Day has fitted an extra sash to
our window and the light admitted for the first time through triple
glass. With this device little ice collects inside.
The ponies are very fit but inclined to be troublesome: the quiet
beasts develop tricks without rhyme or reason. Chinaman still kicks and
squeals at night. Anton's theory is that he does it to warm himself,
and perhaps there is something in it. When eating snow he habitually
takes too large a mouthful and swallows it; it is comic to watch him,
because when the snow chills his inside he shuffles about with all four
legs and wears a most fretful, aggrieved expression: but no sooner has
the snow melted than he seizes another mouthful. Other ponies take
small mouthfuls or melt a large one on their tongues--this act also
produces an amusing expression. Victor and Snippets are confirmed
wind suckers. They are at it all the time when the manger board is
in place, but it is taken down immediately after feeding time, and
then they can only seek vainly for something to catch hold of with
their teeth. 'Bones' has taken to kicking at night for no imaginable
reason. He hammers away at the back of his stall merrily; we have
covered the boards with several layers of sacking, so that the noise
is cured, if not the habit. The annoying part of these tricks is that
they hold the possibility of damage to the pony. I am glad to say
all the lice have disappeared; the final conquest was effected with
a very simple remedy--the infected ponies were washed with water in
which tobacco had been steeped. Oates had seen this decoction used
effectively with troop horses. The result is the greater relief,
since we had run out of all the chemicals which had been used for
the same purpose.
I have now definitely told off the ponies for the Southern Journey, and
the new masters will take charge on September 1. They will continually
exercise the animals so as to get to know them as well as possible. The
arrangement has many obvious advantages. The following is the order:
Bowers Victor. Evans (P.O.) Snatcher.
Wilson Nobby. Crean Bones.
Atkinson Jehu. Keohane Jimmy Pigg.
Wright Chinaman. Oates Christopher.
Cherry-Garrard Michael. Myself & Oates Snippets.
The first balloon of the season was sent up yesterday by Bowers and
Simpson. It rose on a southerly wind, but remained in it for 100 feet
or less, then for 300 or 400 feet it went straight up, and after that
directly south over Razor Back Island. Everything seemed to go well,
the thread, on being held, tightened and then fell slack as it should
do. It was followed for two miles or more running in a straight line
for Razor Back, but within a few hundred yards of the Island it came
to an end. The searchers went round the Island to try and recover the
clue, but without result. Almost identically the same thing happened
after the last ascent made, and we are much puzzled to find the cause.
The continued proximity of the south moving air currents above is
very interesting.
The Crozier Party are not right yet, their feet are exceedingly sore,
and there are other indications of strain. I must almost except Bowers,
who, whatever his feelings, went off as gaily as usual on the search
for the balloon.
Saw a very beautiful effect on my afternoon walk yesterday: the full
moon was shining brightly from a quarter exactly opposite to the fading
twilight and the icebergs were lit on one side by the yellow lunar
light and on the other by the paler white daylight. The first seemed
to be gilded, while the diffused light of day gave to the other a deep,
cold, greenish-blue colour--the contrast was strikingly beautiful.
_Friday, August_ 11.--The long-expected blizzard came in the night;
it is still blowing hard with drift.
Yesterday evening Oates gave his second lecture on 'Horse
management.' He was brief and a good deal to the point. 'Not born
but made' was his verdict on the good manager of animals. 'The horse
has no reasoning power at all, but an excellent memory'; sights and
sounds recall circumstances under which they were previously seen or
heard. It is no use shouting at a horse: ten to one he will associate
the noise with some form of trouble, and getting excited, will set out
to make it. It is ridiculous for the rider of a bucking horse to shout
'Whoa!'--'I know,' said the Soldier, 'because I have done it.' Also
it is to be remembered that loud talk to one horse may disturb other
horses. The great thing is to be firm and quiet.
A horse's memory, explained the Soldier, warns it of events to come. He
gave instances of hunters and race-horses which go off their feed and
show great excitement in other ways before events for which they are
prepared; for this reason every effort should be made to keep the
animals quiet in camp. Rugs should be put on directly after a halt
and not removed till the last moment before a march.
After a few hints on leading the lecturer talked of possible
improvements in our wintering arrangements. A loose box for each
animal would be an advantage, and a small amount of litter on which
he could lie down. Some of our ponies lie down, but rarely for
more than 10 minutes--the Soldier thinks they find the ground too
cold. He thinks it would be wise to clip animals before the winter
sets in. He is in doubt as to the advisability of grooming. He passed
to the improvements preparing for the coming journey--the nose bags,
picketing lines, and rugs. He proposes to bandage the legs of all
ponies. Finally he dealt with the difficult subjects of snow blindness
and soft surfaces: for the first he suggested dyeing the forelocks,
which have now grown quite long. Oates indulges a pleasant conceit in
finishing his discourses with a merry tale. Last night's tale evoked
shouts of laughter, but, alas! it is quite unprintable! Our discussion
hinged altogether on the final subjects of the lecture as concerning
snow blindness--the dyed forelocks seem inadequate, and the best
suggestion seems the addition of a sun bonnet rather than blinkers,
or, better still, a peak over the eyes attached to the headstall. I
doubt if this question will be difficult to settle, but the snow-shoe
problem is much more serious. This has been much in our minds of late,
and Petty Officer Evans has been making trial shoes for Snatcher on
vague ideas of our remembrance of the shoes worn for lawn mowing.
Besides the problem of the form of the shoes, comes the question of
the means of attachment. All sorts of suggestions were made last night
as to both points, and the discussion cleared the air a good deal. I
think that with slight modification our present pony snow-shoes made
on the grating or racquet principle may prove best after all. The only
drawback is that they are made for very soft snow and unnecessarily
large for the Barrier; this would make them liable to be strained on
hard patches. The alternative seems to be to perfect the principle
of the lawn mowing shoe, which is little more than a stiff bag over
the hoof.
Perhaps we shall come to both kinds: the first for the quiet animals
and the last for the more excitable. I am confident the matter is of
first importance.
_Monday, August_ 14.--Since the comparatively short storm of Friday, in
which we had a temperature of -30° with a 50 m.p.h. wind, we have had
two delightfully calm days, and to-day there is every promise of the
completion of a third. On such days the light is quite good for three
to four hours at midday and has a cheering effect on man and beast.
The ponies are so pleased that they seize the slightest opportunity
to part company with their leaders and gallop off with tail and heels
flung high. The dogs are equally festive and are getting more exercise
than could be given in the dark. The two Esquimaux dogs have been taken
in hand by Clissold, as I have noted before. He now takes them out with
a leader borrowed from Meares, usually little 'Noogis.' On Saturday
the sledge capsized at the tide crack; Clissold was left on the snow
whilst the team disappeared in the distance. Noogis returned later,
having eaten through his harness, and the others were eventually found
some two miles away, 'foul' of an ice hummock. Yesterday Clissold
took the same team to Cape Royds; they brought back a load of 100
lbs. a dog in about two hours. It would have been a good performance
for the best dogs in the time, and considering that Meares pronounced
these two dogs useless, Clissold deserves a great deal of credit.
Yesterday we had a really successful balloon ascent: the balloon ran
out four miles of thread before it was released, and the instrument
fell without a parachute. The searchers followed the clue about 2 1/2
miles to the north, when it turned and came back parallel to itself,
and only about 30 yards distant from it. The instrument was found
undamaged and with the record properly scratched.
Nelson has been out a good deal more of late. He has got a good little
run of serial temperatures with water samples, and however meagre
his results, they may be counted as exceedingly accurate; his methods
include the great scientific care which is now considered necessary
for this work, and one realises that he is one of the few people who
have been trained in it. Yesterday he got his first net haul from
the bottom, with the assistance of Atkinson and Cherry-Garrard.
Atkinson has some personal interest in the work. He has been
getting remarkable results himself and has discovered a host of new
parasites in the seals; he has been trying to correlate these with
like discoveries in the fishes, in hope of working out complete life
histories in both primary and secondary hosts.
But the joint hosts of the fishes may be the mollusca or other
creatures on which they feed, and hence the new fields for Atkinson
in Nelson's catches. There is a relative simplicity in the round of
life in its higher forms in these regions that would seem especially
hopeful for the parasitologist.
My afternoon walk has become a pleasure; everything is beautiful in
this half light and the northern sky grows redder as the light wanes.
_Tuesday, August_ 15.--The instrument recovered from the balloon shows
an ascent of 2 1/2 miles, and the temperature at that height only 5°
or 6° C. below that at the surface. If, as one must suppose, this
layer extends over the Barrier, it would there be at a considerably
higher temperature than the surface Simpson has imagined a very cold
surface layer on the Barrier.
The acetylene has suddenly failed, and I find myself at this moment
writing by daylight for the first time.
The first addition to our colony came last night, when 'Lassie'
produced six or seven puppies--we are keeping the family very quiet
and as warm as possible in the stable.
It is very pleasant to note the excellent relations which our young
Russians have established with other folk; they both work very hard,
Anton having most to do. Demetri is the more intelligent and begins
to talk English fairly well. Both are on the best terms with their
mess-mates, and it was amusing last night to see little Anton jamming
a felt hat over P.O. Evans' head in high good humour.
Wright lectured on radium last night.
The transformation of the radio-active elements suggestive of
the transmutation of metals was perhaps the most interesting idea
suggested, but the discussion ranged mainly round the effect which
the discovery of radio-activity has had on physics and chemistry
in its bearing on the origin of matter, on geology as bearing on the
internal heat of the earth, and on medicine in its curative powers. The
geologists and doctors admitted little virtue to it, but of course
the physicists boomed their own wares, which enlivened the debate.
_Thursday, August_ 17.--The weather has been extremely kind to us of
late; we haven't a single grumble against it. The temperature hovers
pretty constantly at about -35°, there is very little wind and the
sky is clear and bright. In such weather one sees well for more than
three hours before and after noon, the landscape unfolds itself, and
the sky colours are always delicate and beautiful. At noon to-day
there was bright sunlight on the tops of the Western Peaks and on
the summit and steam of Erebus--of late the vapour cloud of Erebus
has been exceptionally heavy and fantastic in form.
The balloon has become a daily institution. Yesterday the instrument
was recovered in triumph, but to-day the threads carried the searchers
in amongst the icebergs and soared aloft over their crests--anon the
clue was recovered beyond, and led towards Tent Island, then towards
Inaccessible, then back to the bergs. Never was such an elusive
thread. Darkness descended with the searchers on a strong scent for
the Razor Backs: Bowers returned full of hope.
The wretched Lassie has killed every one of her litter. She is mother
for the first time, and possibly that accounts for it. When the poor
little mites were alive she constantly left them, and when taken
back she either trod on them or lay on them, till not one was left
alive. It is extremely annoying.
As the daylight comes, people are busier than ever. It does one good
to see so much work going on.
_Friday, August_ 18.--Atkinson lectured on 'Scurvy' last night. He
spoke clearly and slowly, but the disease is anything but precise. He
gave a little summary of its history afloat and the remedies long in
use in the Navy.
He described the symptoms with some detail. Mental depression,
debility, syncope, petechiae, livid patches, spongy gums, lesions,
swellings, and so on to things that are worse. He passed to some of the
theories held and remedies tried in accordance with them. Ralph came
nearest the truth in discovering decrease of chlorine and alkalinity
of urine. Sir Almroth Wright has hit the truth, he thinks, in finding
increased acidity of blood--acid intoxication--by methods only possible
in recent years.
This acid condition is due to two salts, sodium hydrogen carbonate
and sodium hydrogen phosphate; these cause the symptoms observed
and infiltration of fat in organs, leading to feebleness of heart
action. The method of securing and testing serum of patient was
described (titration, a colorimetric method of measuring the percentage
of substances in solution), and the test by litmus paper of normal
or super-normal solution. In this test the ordinary healthy man shows
normal 30 to 50: the scurvy patient normal 90.
Lactate of sodium increases alkalinity of blood, but only within
narrow limits, and is the only chemical remedy suggested.
So far for diagnosis, but it does not bring us much closer to the
cause, preventives, or remedies. Practically we are much as we were
before, but the lecturer proceeded to deal with the practical side.
In brief, he holds the first cause to be tainted food, but secondary
or contributory causes may be even more potent in developing the
disease. Damp, cold, over-exertion, bad air, bad light, in fact
any condition exceptional to normal healthy existence. Remedies
are merely to change these conditions for the better. Dietetically,
fresh vegetables are the best curatives--the lecturer was doubtful of
fresh meat, but admitted its possibility in polar climate; lime juice
only useful if regularly taken. He discussed lightly the relative
values of vegetable stuffs, doubtful of those containing abundance
of phosphates such as lentils. He touched theory again in continuing
the cause of acidity to bacterial action--and the possibility of
infection in epidemic form. Wilson is evidently slow to accept the
'acid intoxication' theory; his attitude is rather 'non proven.' His
remarks were extremely sound and practical as usual. He proved the
value of fresh meat in polar regions.
Scurvy seems very far away from us this time, yet after our _Discovery_
experience, one feels that no trouble can be too great or no precaution
too small to be adopted to keep it at bay. Therefore such an evening
as last was well spent.
It is certain we shall not have the disease here, but one cannot
foresee equally certain avoidance in the southern journey to come. All
one can do is to take every possible precaution.
Ran over to Tent Island this afternoon and climbed to the top--I have
not been there since 1903. Was struck with great amount of loose sand;
it seemed to get smaller in grain from S. to N. Fine view from top
of island: one specially notices the gap left by the breaking up of
the Glacier Tongue.
The distance to the top of the island and back is between 7 and
8 statute miles, and the run in this weather is fine healthy
exercise. Standing on the island to-day with a glorious view of
mountains, islands, and glaciers, I thought how very different must be
the outlook of the Norwegians. A dreary white plain of Barrier behind
and an uninviting stretch of sea ice in front. With no landmarks,
nothing to guide if the light fails, it is probable that they venture
but a very short distance from their hut.
The prospects of such a situation do not smile on us.
The weather remains fine--this is the sixth day without wind.
_Sunday, August_ 20.--The long-expected blizzard came yesterday--a
good honest blow, the drift vanishing long before the wind. This and
the rise of temperature (to 2°) has smoothed and polished all ice
or snow surfaces. A few days ago I could walk anywhere in my soft
finnesko with sealskin soles; to-day it needed great caution to
prevent tumbles. I think there has been a good deal of ablation.
The sky is clear to-day, but the wind still strong though warm. I
went along the shore of the North Bay and climbed to the glacier over
one of the drifted faults in the ice face. It is steep and slippery,
but by this way one can arrive above the Ramp without touching rock
and thus avoid cutting soft footwear.
The ice problems in our neighbourhood become more fascinating and
elusive as one re-examines them by the returning light; some will
be solved.
_Monday, August_ 21.--Weights and measurements last evening. We have
remained surprisingly constant. There seems to have been improvement
in lung power and grip is shown by spirometer and dynamometer, but
weights have altered very little. I have gone up nearly 3 lbs. in
winter, but the increase has occurred during the last month, when I
have been taking more exercise. Certainly there is every reason to
be satisfied with the general state of health.
The ponies are becoming a handful. Three of the four exercised to-day
so far have run away--Christopher and Snippets broke away from Oates
and Victor from Bowers. Nothing but high spirits, there is no vice in
these animals; but I fear we are going to have trouble with sledges
and snow-shoes. At present the Soldier dare not issue oats or the
animals would become quite unmanageable. Bran is running low; he
wishes he had more of it.
_Tuesday, August_ 22.--I am renewing study of glacier problems;
the face of the ice cliff 300 yards east of the homestead is full of
enigmas. Yesterday evening Ponting gave us a lecture on his Indian
travels. He is very frank in acknowledging his debt to guide-books
for information, nevertheless he tells his story well and his slides
are wonderful. In personal reminiscence he is distinctly dramatic--he
thrilled us a good deal last night with a vivid description of a
sunrise in the sacred city of Benares. In the first dim light the
waiting, praying multitude of bathers, the wonderful ritual and its
incessant performance; then, as the sun approaches, the hush--the
effect of thousands of worshippers waiting in silence--a silence
to be felt. Finally, as the first rays appear, the swelling roar
of a single word from tens of thousands of throats: 'Ambah!' It was
artistic to follow this picture of life with the gruesome horrors of
the ghat. This impressionist style of lecturing is very attractive
and must essentially cover a great deal of ground. So we saw Jeypore,
Udaipore, Darjeeling, and a confusing number of places--temples,
monuments and tombs in profusion, with remarkable pictures of the
wonderful Taj Mahal--horses, elephants, alligators, wild boars, and
flamingoes--warriors, fakirs, and nautch girls--an impression here
and an impression there.
It is worth remembering how attractive this style can be--in lecturing
one is inclined to give too much attention to connecting links which
join one episode to another. A lecture need not be a connected story;
perhaps it is better it should not be.
It was my night on duty last night and I watched the oncoming of a
blizzard with exceptional beginnings. The sky became very gradually
overcast between 1 and 4 A.M. About 2.30 the temperature rose on a
steep grade from -20° to -3°; the barometer was falling, rapidly for
these regions. Soon after 4 the wind came with a rush, but without
snow or drift. For a time it was more gusty than has ever yet been
recorded even in this region. In one gust the wind rose from 4 to 68
m.p.h. and fell again to 20 m.p.h. within a minute; another reached 80
m.p.h., but not from such a low point of origin. The effect in the hut
was curious; for a space all would be quiet, then a shattering blast
would descend with a clatter and rattle past ventilator and chimneys,
so sudden, so threatening, that it was comforting to remember the solid
structure of our building. The suction of such a gust is so heavy that
even the heavy snow-covered roof of the stable, completely sheltered
on the lee side of the main building, is violently shaken--one could
well imagine the plight of our adventurers at C. Crozier when their
roof was destroyed. The snow which came at 6 lessened the gustiness
and brought the ordinary phenomena of a blizzard. It is blowing hard
to-day, with broken windy clouds and roving bodies of drift. A wild
day for the return of the sun. Had it been fine to-day we should have
seen the sun for the first time; yesterday it shone on the lower
foothills to the west, but to-day we see nothing but gilded drift
clouds. Yet it is grand to have daylight rushing at one.
_Wednesday, August_ 23.--We toasted the sun in champagne last night,
coupling Victor Campbell's name as his birthday coincides. The return
of the sun could not be appreciated as we have not had a glimpse of
it, and the taste of the champagne went wholly unappreciated; it was
a very mild revel. Meanwhile the gale continues. Its full force broke
last night with an average of nearly 70 m.p.h. for some hours: the
temperature has been up to 10° and the snowfall heavy. At seven this
morning the air was thicker with whirling drift than it has ever been.
It seems as though the violence of the storms which succeed our rare
spells of fine weather is in proportion to the duration of the spells.
_Thursday, August_ 24.--Another night and day of furious wind
and drift, and still no sign of the end. The temperature has been
as high as 16°. Now and again the snow ceases and then the drift
rapidly diminishes, but such an interval is soon followed by fresh
clouds of snow. It is quite warm outside, one can go about with
head uncovered--which leads me to suppose that one does get hardened
to cold to some extent--for I suppose one would not wish to remain
uncovered in a storm in England if the temperature showed 16 degrees
of frost. This is the third day of confinement to the hut: it grows
tedious, but there is no help, as it is too thick to see more than
a few yards out of doors.
_Friday, August_ 25.--The gale continued all night and it blows hard
this morning, but the sky is clear, the drift has ceased, and the few
whale-back clouds about Erebus carry a promise of improving conditions.
Last night there was an intensely black cloud low on the northern
horizon--but for earlier experience of the winter one would have sworn
to it as a water sky; but I think the phenomenon is due to the shadow
of retreating drift clouds. This morning the sky is clear to the north,
so that the sea ice cannot have broken out in the Sound.
During snowy gales it is almost necessary to dress oneself in wind
clothes if one ventures outside for the briefest periods--exposed
woollen or cloth materials become heavy with powdery crystals in a
minute or two, and when brought into the warmth of the hut are soon
wringing wet. Where there is no drift it is quicker and easier to
slip on an overcoat.
It is not often I have a sentimental attachment for articles of
clothing, but I must confess an affection for my veteran uniform
overcoat, inspired by its persistent utility. I find that it
is twenty-three years of age and can testify to its strenuous
existence. It has been spared neither rain, wind, nor salt sea spray,
tropic heat nor Arctic cold; it has outlived many sets of buttons,
from their glittering gilded youth to green old age, and it supports
its four-stripe shoulder straps as gaily as the single lace ring
of the early days which proclaimed it the possession of a humble
sub-lieutenant. Withal it is still a very long way from the fate of
the 'one-horse shay.'
Taylor gave us his final physiographical lecture last night. It was
completely illustrated with slides made from our own negatives,
Ponting's Alpine work, and the choicest illustrations of certain
scientific books. The preparation of the slides had involved a good
deal of work for Ponting as well as for the lecturer. The lecture
dealt with ice erosion, and the pictures made it easy to follow
the comparison of our own mountain forms and glacial contours with
those that have received so much attention elsewhere. Noticeable
differences are the absence of moraine material on the lower surfaces
of our glaciers, their relatively insignificant movement, their
steep sides, &c.... It is difficult to convey the bearing of the
difference or similarity of various features common to the pictures
under comparison without their aid. It is sufficient to note that the
points to which the lecturer called attention were pretty obvious
and that the lecture was exceedingly instructive. The origin of
'cirques' or 'cwms,' of which we have remarkably fine examples,
is still a little mysterious--one notes also the requirement of
observation which might throw light on the erosion of previous ages.
After Taylor's effort Ponting showed a number of very beautiful slides
of Alpine scenery--not a few are triumphs of the photographer's art. As
a wind-up Ponting took a flashlight photograph of our hut converted
into a lecture hall: a certain amount of faking will be required,
but I think this is very allowable under the circumstances.
Oates tells me that one of the ponies, 'Snippets,' will eat
blubber! the possible uses of such an animal are remarkable!
The gravel on the north side of the hut against which the stable is
built has been slowly but surely worn down, leaving gaps under the
boarding. Through these gaps and our floor we get an unpleasantly
strong stable effluvium, especially when the wind is strong. We are
trying to stuff the holes up, but have not had much success so far.
_Saturday, August_ 26.--A dying wind and clear sky yesterday, and
almost calm to-day. The noon sun is cut off by the long low foot
slope of Erebus which runs to Cape Royds. Went up the Ramp at noon
yesterday and found no advantage--one should go over the floe to
get the earliest sight, and yesterday afternoon Evans caught a last
glimpse of the upper limb from that situation, whilst Simpson saw
the same from Wind Vane Hill.
The ponies are very buckish and can scarcely be held in at exercise;
it seems certain that they feel the return of daylight. They were
out in morning and afternoon yesterday. Oates and Anton took out
Christopher and Snippets rather later. Both ponies broke away within
50 yards of the stable and galloped away over the floe. It was nearly
an hour before they could be rounded up. Such escapades are the result
of high spirits; there is no vice in the animals.
We have had comparatively little aurora of late, but last night was
an exception; there was a good display at 3 A.M.
P.M.--Just before lunch the sunshine could be seen gilding the floe,
and Ponting and I walked out to the bergs. The nearest one has been
overturned and is easily climbed. From the top we could see the
sun clear over the rugged outline of C. Barne. It was glorious to
stand bathed in brilliant sunshine once more. We felt very young,
sang and cheered--we were reminded of a bright frosty morning in
England--everything sparkled and the air had the same crisp feel. There
is little new to be said of the return of the sun in polar regions,
yet it is such a very real and important event that one cannot pass
it in silence. It changes the outlook on life of every individual,
foul weather is robbed of its terrors; if it is stormy to-day it will
be fine to-morrow or the next day, and each day's delay will mean a
brighter outlook when the sky is clear.
Climbed the Ramp in the afternoon, the shouts and songs of men and
the neighing of horses borne to my ears as I clambered over its kopjes.
We are now pretty well convinced that the Ramp is a moraine resting
on a platform of ice.
The sun rested on the sunshine recorder for a few minutes, but
made no visible impression. We did not get our first record in the
_Discovery_ until September. It is surprising that so little heat
should be associated with such a flood of light.
_Sunday, August_ 27.--Overcast sky and chill south-easterly
wind. Sunday routine, no one very active. Had a run to South Bay over
'Domain.'
_Monday, August_ 28.--Ponting and Gran went round the bergs late
last night. On returning they saw a dog coming over the floe from the
north. The animal rushed towards and leapt about them with every sign
of intense joy. Then they realised that it was our long lost Julick.
His mane was crusted with blood and he smelt strongly of seal
blubber--his stomach was full, but the sharpness of back-bone showed
that this condition had only been temporary, 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 adventures. 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 are
tracks everywhere and unmistakable 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 to a flag and staff, which it is hoped will
plant itself in the snow on falling.
The sun is shining into the hut windows--already sunbeams rest on
the opposite walls.
I have mentioned the curious cones which are the conspicuous feature
of our Ramp scenery--they stand from 8 to 20 feet in height, some
irregular, but a number quite perfectly conical in outline. To-day
Taylor and Gran took pick and crowbar and started to dig into
one of the smaller ones. After removing a certain amount of loose
rubble they came on solid rock, kenyte, having two or three irregular
cracks traversing the exposed surface. It was only with great trouble
they removed one or two of the smallest fragments severed by these
cracks. There was no sign of ice. This gives a great 'leg up' to the
'debris' cone theory.
Demetri and Clissold took two small teams of dogs to Cape Royds
to-day. They found some dog footprints near the hut, but think these
were not made by Julick. Demetri points far to the west as the scene
of that animal's adventures. Parties from C. Royds always bring a
number of illustrated papers which must have been brought down by
the _Nimrod_ on her last visit. The ostensible object is to provide
amusement for our Russian companions, but as a matter of fact everyone
finds them interesting.
_Tuesday, August_ 29.--I find that the card of the sunshine recorder
showed an hour and a half's burn yesterday and was very faintly
marked on Saturday; already, therefore, the sun has given us warmth,
even if it can only be measured instrumentally.
Last night Meares told us of his adventures in and about Lolo land,
a wild Central Asian country nominally tributary to Lhassa. He had no
pictures and very makeshift maps, yet he held us really entranced for
nearly two hours by the sheer interest of his adventures. The spirit
of the wanderer is in Meares' blood: he has no happiness but in the
wild places of the earth. I have never met so extreme a type. Even
now he is looking forward to getting away by himself to Hut Point,
tired already of our scant measure of civilisation.
He has keen natural powers of observation for all practical facts and
a quite prodigious memory for such things, but a lack of scientific
training causes the acceptance of exaggerated appearances, which
so often present themselves to travellers when unfamiliar objects
are first seen. For instance, when the spoor of some unknown beast
is described as 6 inches across, one shrewdly guesses that a cold
scientific measurement would have reduced this figure by nearly a half;
so it is with mountains, cliffs, waterfalls, &c. With all deduction
on this account the lecture was extraordinarily interesting. Meares
lost his companion and leader, poor Brook, on the expedition which
he described to us. The party started up the Yangtse, travelling from
Shanghai to Hankow and thence to Ichang by steamer--then by house-boat
towed by coolies through wonderful gorges and one dangerous rapid to
Chunking and Chengtu. In those parts the travellers always took the
three principal rooms of the inn they patronised, the cost 150 cash,
something less than fourpence--oranges 20 a penny--the coolies with
100 lb. loads would cover 30 to 40 miles a day--salt is got in bores
sunk with bamboos to nearly a mile in depth; it takes two or three
generations to sink a bore. The lecturer described the Chinese frontier
town Quanchin, its people, its products, chiefly medicinal musk pods
from musk deer. Here also the wonderful ancient damming of the river,
and a temple to the constructor, who wrote, twenty centuries ago,
'dig out your ditches, but keep your banks low.' On we were taken
along mountain trails over high snow-filled passes and across rivers
on bamboo bridges to Wassoo, a timber centre from which great rafts of
lumber are shot down the river, over fearsome rapids, freighted with
Chinamen. 'They generally come through all right,' said the lecturer.
Higher up the river (Min) live the peaceful Ching Ming people,
an ancient aboriginal stock, and beyond these the wild tribes, the
Lolo themselves. They made doubtful friends with a chief preparing
for war. Meares described a feast given to them in a barbaric hall
hung with skins and weapons, the men clad in buckskin dyed red,
and bristling with arms; barbaric dishes, barbaric music. Then the
hunt for new animals; the Chinese Tarkin, the parti-coloured bear,
blue mountain sheep, the golden-haired monkey, and talk of new fruits
and flowers and a host of little-known birds.
More adventures among the wild tribes of the mountains; the white
lamas, the black lamas and phallic worship. Curious prehistoric caves
with ancient terra-cotta figures resembling only others found in
Japan and supplying a curious link. A feudal system running with well
oiled wheels, the happiest of communities. A separation (temporary)
from Brook, who wrote in his diary that tribes were very friendly and
seemed anxious to help him, and was killed on the day following--the
truth hard to gather--the recovery of his body, &c.
As he left the country the Nepaulese ambassador arrives, returning
from Pekin with large escort and bound for Lhassa: the ambassador
half demented: and Meares, who speaks many languages, is begged by
ambassador and escort to accompany the party. He is obliged to miss
this chance of a lifetime.
This is the meagrest outline of the tale which Meares adorned with a
hundred incidental facts--for instance, he told us of the Lolo trade
in green waxfly--the insect is propagated seasonally by thousands of
Chinese who subsist on the sale of the wax produced, but all insects
die between seasons. At the commencement of each season there is a
market to which the wild hill Lolos bring countless tiny bamboo boxes,
each containing a male and female insect, the breeding of which is
their share in the industry.
We are all adventurers here, I suppose, and wild doings in wild
countries appeal to us as nothing else could do. It is good to know
that there remain wild corners of this dreadfully civilised world.
We have had a bright fine day. This morning a balloon was sent up
without thread and with the flag device to which I have alluded. It
went slowly but steadily to the north and so over the Barne Glacier. It
was difficult to follow with glasses frequently clouding with the
breath, but we saw the instrument detached when the slow match burned
out. I'm afraid there is no doubt it fell on the glacier and there
is little hope of recovering it. We have now decided to use a thread
again, but to send the bobbin up with the balloon, so that it unwinds
from that end and there will be no friction where it touches the snow
or rock.
This investigation of upper air conditions is proving a very difficult
matter, but we are not beaten yet.
_Wednesday, August_ 30.--Fine bright day. The thread of the balloon
sent up to-day broke very short off through some fault in the cage
holding the bobbin. By good luck the instrument was found in the
North Bay, and held a record.
This is the fifth record showing a constant inversion of temperature
for a few hundred feet and then a gradual fall, so that the temperature
of the surface is not reached again for 2000 or 3000 feet. The
establishment of this fact repays much of the trouble caused by
the ascents.
_Thursday, August_ 31.--Went round about the Domain and Ramp with
Wilson. We are now pretty well decided as to certain matters that
puzzled us at first. The Ramp is undoubtedly a moraine supported on
the decaying end of the glacier. A great deal of the underlying ice is
exposed, but we had doubts as to whether this ice was not the result
of winter drifting and summer thawing. We have a little difference of
opinion as to whether this morainic material has been brought down in
surface layers or pushed up from the bottom ice layers, as in Alpine
glaciers. There is no doubt that the glacier is retreating with
comparative rapidity, and this leads us to account for the various
ice slabs about the hut as remains of the glacier, but a puzzling
fact confronts this proposition in the discovery of penguin feathers
in the lower strata of ice in both ice caves. The shifting of levels
in the morainic material would account for the drying up of some
lakes and the terrace formations in others, whilst curious trenches
in the ground are obviously due to cracks in the ice beneath. We are
now quite convinced that the queer cones on the Ramp are merely the
result of the weathering of big blocks of agglomerate. As weathering
results they appear unique. We have not yet a satisfactory explanation
of the broad roadway faults that traverse every small eminence in our
immediate region. They must originate from the unequal weathering of
lava flows, but it is difficult to imagine the process. The dip of the
lavas on our Cape corresponds with that of the lavas of Inaccessible
Island, and points to an eruptive centre to the south and not towards
Erebus. Here is food for reflection for the geologists.
The wind blew quite hard from the N.N.W. on Wednesday night, fell
calm in the day, and came from the S.E. with snow as we started to
return from our walk; there was a full blizzard by the time we reached
the hut.