Snippets were all useful ponies.
Michael was a highly-strung nice beast, but his value was doubtful;
Chinaman was more doubtful still, and it was questionable sometimes
whether Jehu would be able to pull anything at all. This leaves Nobby and
Jimmy Pigg, both of which were with us on the Depot Journey. Nobby was
the best of the two; he was the only survivor from the sea-ice disaster,
and I am not sure that his rescue did not save the situation with regard
to the Pole. Jimmy Pigg was wending his way slowly back from Corner Camp
at this time and so was also saved. He was a weak pony but did extremely
well on the Polar Journey. It may be coincidence that these two ponies,
the only ponies which had gained previous sledging experience, did better
according to their strength than any of the others, but I am inclined to
believe that their familiarity with the conditions on the Barrier was of
great value to them, doing away with much useless worry and exhaustion.

And so it will be understood with what feelings of anxiety any cases of
injury or illness to our ponies were regarded. The cases of injury were
few and of small importance, thanks to the care with which they were
exercised in the dark on ice which was by no means free from
inequalities. Let me explain in passing that this ice is almost always
covered by at least a thin layer of drifted snow and for the most part is
not slippery. Every now and then there would be a great banging and
crashing heard through the walls of the hut in the middle of the night.
The watchman would run out, Oates put on his boots, Scott be audibly
uneasy. It was generally Bones or Chinaman kicking their stalls, perhaps
to keep themselves warm, but by the time the watchman had reached the
stable he would be met by a line of sleepy faces blinking at him in the
light of the electric torch, each saying plainly that he could not
possibly have been responsible for a breach of the peace!

But antics might easily lead to accidents, and more than once a pony was
found twisted up in some way in his stall, or even to have fallen to the
ground. Their heads were tied on either side to the stanchions of the
stall, and so if they tried to lie down complications might arise. More
alarming was the one serious case of illness, preceded by a slighter case
of a similar nature in another pony. Jimmy Pigg had a slight attack of
colic in the middle of June, but he was feeding all right again during
the evening of the