ere was little he didn't know about horses, and the pity is that
he did not choose our ponies for us in Siberia: we should have had a very
different lot. In addition to his general charge of them all, Oates took
as his own pony the aforesaid devil Christopher for the Southern Journey
and for previous training. We shall hear much more of Christopher, who
appeared to have come down to the Antarctic to initiate the well-behaved
inhabitants into all the vices of civilization, but from beginning to end
Oates' management of this animal might have proved a model to any
governor of a lunatic asylum. His tact, patience and courage, for
Christopher was a very dangerous beast, remain some of the most vivid
recollections of a very gallant gentleman.

In this connection let me add that no animals could have had more
considerate and often self-sacrificing treatment than these ponies of
ours. Granted that they must be used at all (and I do not mean to enter
into that question) they were fed, trained, and even clothed as friends
and companions rather than as beasts of burden. They were never hit, a
condition to which they were clearly unaccustomed. They lived far better
than they had before, and all this was done for them in spite of the
conditions under which we ourselves lived. We became very fond of our
beasts but we could not be blind to their faults. The mind of a horse is
a very limited concern, relying almost entirely upon memory. He rivals
our politicians in that he has little real intellect. Consequently, when
the pony was faced with conditions different from those to which he was
accustomed, he showed but little adaptability; and when you add to this
frozen harness and rugs, with all their straps and buckles and lashings,
an incredible facility for eating anything within reach including his own
tethering ropes and the headstalls, fringes and whatnots of his
companions, together with our own scanty provisions and a general wish to
do anything except the job of the moment, it must be admitted that the
pony leader's lot was full of occasions for bad temper. Nevertheless
leaders and ponies were on the best of terms (excepting always
Christopher), which is really not surprising when you come to think that
most of the leaders were sailors whose love of animals is profound.

A lean-to roof was built against the northern side of the hut, and the
ends and open side were boarded up. This building when buttressed by the
bricks of coal w