in the barrier-ice itself. She was now in a very well-sheltered
spot, and night, as often happened in the Antarctic regions, was
turned into day so that several seals could be killed. 'It, seemed
a terrible desecration,' Scott says, 'to come to this quiet spot
only to murder its innocent inhabitants, and stain the white snow
with blood.' But there was the best of all excuses, namely necessity,
for this massacre, because there was no guarantee that seals would
be found near the spot in which the ship wintered, and undoubtedly
the wisest plan was to make sure of necessary food.

While the seal carcasses and some ice for the boilers were being
obtained, Scott turned in to get some rest before putting out to
sea again, and on returning to the deck at 7.30 he was told that
the work was completed, but that some five hours before Wilson,
Ferrar, Cross and Weller had got adrift of a floe, and that no one
had thought of picking them up. Although the sun had been shining
brightly all night, the temperature had been down to 18°, and afar
off Scott could see four disconsolate figures tramping about, and
trying to keep themselves warm on a detached floe not more than
fifteen yards across.

When at length the wanderers scrambled over the side it was very
evident that they had a grievance, and not until they had been warmed
by hot cocoa could they talk with ease of their experiences. They
[Page 49]
had been obliged to keep constantly on the move, and when they
thought of smoking to relieve the monotony they found that they
had pipes and tobacco, but no matches. While, however, they were
dismally bemoaning this unfortunate state of affairs Wilson, who
did not smoke, came to the rescue and succeeded in producing fire