Atkinson or Oates would,
probably, give you a congenial atmosphere.

There was never any want of conversation, largely due to the fact that no
conversation was expected: we most of us know the horrible blankness
which comes over our minds when we realize that because we are eating we
are also supposed to talk, whether we have anything to say or not. It was
also due to the more primitive reason that in a company of specialists,
whose travels extended over most parts of the earth, and whose subjects
overlapped and interlocked at so many points, topics of conversation were
not only numerous but full of possibilities of expansion. Add to this
that from the nature of our work we were probably people of an
inquisitive turn of mind and wanted to get to the bottom of the subjects
which presented themselves, and you may expect to find, as was in fact
the case, an atmosphere of pleasant and quite interesting conversation
which sometimes degenerated into heated and noisy argument.

The business of eating over, pipes were lit without further formality. I
mention pipes only because while we had a most bountiful supply of
tobacco, the kindly present of Mr. Wills, our supply of cigarettes from
the same source was purposely limited and only a small quantity were
landed, allowing of a ration to such members who wished. Consequently
cigarettes were an article of some value, and in a land where the
ordinary forms of currency are valueless they became a frequent stake to
venture when making bets. Indeed, "I bet you ten cigarettes," or "I bet
you a dinner when we get back to London," became the most frequent bids
of the argumentative gambler, occasionally varied when the bettor was
more than usually certain of the issue by the offer of a pair of socks.

By two o'clock we were dispersed once more to our various works and
duties. If it was bearable outside, the hut would soon be empty save for
the cook and a couple of seamen washing up the plates; otherwise every
one went out to make the most of any glimmering of daylight which still
came to us from the sun below the northern horizon. And here it may be
explained that whereas in England the sun rises more or less in the east,
is due south at mid-day, and sets in the west, this is not the case in
the Antarctic regions. In the latitude in which we now lived the sun is
at his highest at mid-day in the north, at his lowest at midnight in the
south. As is generally known he remains entirely abov