s
and other devices. Cement was tried, but it is doubtful if any good came
of it, for the low temperature did not encourage it to set well. By the
evening, the bottom plates were laid on and bolted to the tops of the
stumps, and everything was ready for the superstructure.

On January 22, while some were busy with the floor-joists and
wall-frames, others carried boulders from the neighbouring moraine,
filling in the whole space between the stumps. These were eventually
embedded in a mass of boulders, as much as three feet deep in places.
By the time both huts were erected, nearly fifty tons of stones had been
used in the foundations--a circumstance we did not regret at a later
date.

Hodgeman was appointed clerk of works on the construction, and was
kept unusually busy selecting timber, patrolling among the workmen,
and searching for his foot-rule which had an unaccountable trick of
vanishing in thin air.

Hannam had various occupations, but one was to attend to the needs of
the inner man, until the completion of the hut. There is no doubt that
he was regarded at this time as the most important and popular member of
the party, for our appetites were abnormally good. About an hour before
meals he was to be seen rummaging amongst the cases of provisions,
selecting tins of various brands and hues from the great confusion.
However remote their source or diverse their colour, experience taught
us that only one preparation would emerge from the tent-kitchen. It was
a multifarious stew. Its good quality was undoubted, for a few minutes
after the "dinner-bell rang" there was not a particle left. The
"dinner-bell" was a lusty shout from the master cook, which was
re-echoed by the brawny mob who rushed madly to the Benzine Hut.
Plates and mugs were seized and portions measured out, while the diners
distributed themselves on odd boxes lying about on the ice. Many who
were accustomed to restaurants built tables of kerosene cases and
dined al fresco. After the limited stew, the company fared on cocoa,
biscuits--"hard tack"--and jam, all ad libitum.

On those rare summer days, the sun blazed down on the blue ice; skua
gulls nestled in groups on the snow; sly penguins waddled along to
inspect the building operations; seals basked in torpid slumber on
the shore; out on the sapphire bay the milk-white bergs floated in the
swell. We can all paint our own picture of the good times round the
Benzine Hut. We worked hard, ate heartily a