on the other hand, was bored,
yawning continually: it was suggested that he was suffering from polar
ennui! Altogether they reflected the greatest credit upon Lashly, who
groomed them every day and took the greatest care of them. They were
subject to the most violent fits of jealousy, being much disturbed if a
rival got undue attention. The dog Vaida, however, was good friends with
them all, going down the line and rubbing noses with them in their
stalls.

The food of the mules was based upon that given by Oates to the ponies
the year before, and the results were successful.

The accommodation given to the dogs in the Terra Nova on the way south is
open to criticism. As the reader may remember, they were chained on the
top of the deck cargo on the main deck, and of course had a horrible
time during the gale, and any subsequent bad weather, which did not
however last very long. But it was quite impossible to put them anywhere
else, for every square inch between decks was so packed that even our
personal belongings for more than two years were reduced to one small
uniform case. Any seaman will easily understand that to build houses or
shelters on deck over and above what we had already was out of the
question. As a matter of fact I doubt whether the dogs had a worse time
than we during that gale. In good weather at sea, and at all times in the
pack, they were comfortable enough. But future explorers might consider
whether they can give their dogs more shelter during the winter than we
were able to do. Amundsen, whose Winter Quarters were on the Barrier
itself, and who experienced lower temperatures and very much less wind
than was our lot at Cape Evans, had his dogs in tents, and let them run
loose in the camp during the day. Tents would have gone in the winds we
experienced, and I have explained that we had no snow in which we could
make houses, as was done by Amundsen in the Barrier.

Our more peaceable dogs were allowed to run loose, especially during this
last winter, at the beginning of which we also built a dog hospital. We
should have liked to loose them all, but if we did so they immediately
flew at one another's throats. We might perhaps have let them loose if we
had first taken the precaution Amundsen took, and muzzled all of them
before doing so. The sport of fighting, so his dogs discovered, lost all
its charm when they found they could not taste blood, and they gave it
up, and ran about unmuzzled and happy