snow for the dogs, which preferred, however, to sleep outside except
when the weather was extraordinarily severe. The tethering of the dogs
was a simple matter. The end of a chain was buried about eight inches
in the snow, some fragments of ice were pressed around it, and a little
water poured over all. The icy breath of the Antarctic cemented it in
a few moments. Four dogs which had been ailing were shot. Some of the
dogs were suffering badly from worms, and the remedies at our disposal,
unfortunately, were not effective. All the fit dogs were being
exercised in the sledges, and they took to the work with enthusiasm.
Sometimes their eagerness to be off and away produced laughable
results, but the drivers learned to be alert. The wireless apparatus
was still rigged, but we listened in vain for the Saturday-night time
signals from New Year Island, ordered for our benefit by the Argentine
Government. On Sunday the 28th, Hudson waited at 2 a.m. for the Port
Stanley monthly signals, but could hear nothing. Evidently the
distances were too great for our small plant.



CHAPTER III

WINTER MONTHS


The month of March opened with a severe north-easterly gale. Five
Weddells and two crab-eaters were shot on the floe during the morning
of March 1, and the wind, with fine drifting snow, sprang up while the
carcasses were being brought in by sledging parties. The men were
compelled to abandon some of the blubber and meat, and they had a
struggle to get back to the ship over the rough ice in the teeth of the