to all the ship's officers except
myself, but they soon got into the way of conning and working through
open water leads and, as time went on, distinguished the thinner ice from
the harder and more dangerous stuff.

On December 10 we stopped the ship and secured her to a heavy floe from
which we took in sufficient ice to make eight tons of fresh water, and
whilst doing this Rennick sounded and obtained bottom in 1964 fathoms,
fora-minifera and decomposed skeleton unicellular organs, also two pieces
of black basic lava. Lillie and Nelson took plankton and water bottle
samples to about 280 fathoms. A few penguins came round and a good many
crab-eater seals were seen. In the afternoon we got under way again and
worked for about eight miles through the pack, which was gradually
becoming denser. About 2:30 p.m. I saw from the crow's-nest four seals on
a floe. I slid down a backstay, and whilst the officer on watch worked
the ship close to them, I got two or three others with all our firearms
and shot the lot from the forecastle head. We had seal liver for dinner
that night; one or two rather turned up their noses at it, but, as Scott
pointed out, the time would come when seal liver would be a delicacy to
dream about.

Campbell did not do much conning except in the early morning, as his
executive duties kept him well occupied. The Polar sledge journey had its
attractions, but Campbell's party were to have interesting work and were
envied by many on board. For reasons which need not here be entered into
Campbell had to abandon the King Edward VII. Land programme, but in these
days his mob were known as the Eastern Party, to consist of the Wicked
Mate, Levick, and Priestley, with three seamen, Abbott, Browning, and
Dickason. Campbell had the face of an angel and the heart of a hornet.
With the most refined and innocent smile he would come up to me and ask
whether the Eastern Party could have a small amount of this or that
luxury. Of course I would agree, and sure enough Bowers would tell me
that Campbell had already appropriated a far greater share than he was
ever entitled to of the commodity in question. This happened again and
again, but the refined smile was irresistible and I am bound to say the
Wicked Mate generally got away with it, for even Bowers, the
incomparable, was bowled over by that smile.

We crossed the Antarctic Circle on the morning of the 10th, little
dreaming in those happy days that the finest amongst u