cannot help thinking it has come to stay. In Arrival Bay it is 6
to 7 inches thick, but the new pools beyond have only I inch of the
regular elastic sludgy new ice. The sky cleared last night, and this
morning we have sunshine for the first time for many days. If this
weather holds for a day we shall be all right. We are getting towards
the end of our luxuries, so that it is quite time we made a move--we
are very near the end of the sugar.

The skuas seem to have gone, the last was seen on Sunday. These birds
were very shy towards the end of their stay, also very dark in plumage;
they did not seem hungry, and yet it must have been difficult for
them to get food.

The seals are coming up in our Bay--five last night. Luckily the
dogs have not yet discovered them or the fact that the sea ice will
bear them.

Had an interesting talk with Taylor on agglomerate and basaltic dykes
of Castle Rock. The perfection of the small cone craters below Castle
Rock seem to support the theory we have come to, that there have been
volcanic disturbances since the recession of the greater ice sheet.

It is a great thing having Wright to fog out the ice problems,
and he has had a good opportunity of observing many interesting
things here. He is keeping notes of ice changes and a keen eye on
ice phenomena; we have many discussions.

Yesterday Wilson prepared a fry of seal meat with penguin blubber. It
had a flavour like cod-liver oil and was not much appreciated--some
ate their share, and I think all would have done so if we had had