s, delivering them from a ketch.
These were passed over the side and secured at intervals on top of the
deck cargo.

The engines again began to throb, not to cease until the arrival at
Macquarie Island. A few miles lower down the channel, the Premier, and
a number of other friends and well-wishers who had followed in a small
steamer, bade us a final adieu.

Behind lay a sparkling seascape and the Tasmanian littoral; before,
the blue southern ocean heaving with an ominous swell. A glance at the
barograph showed a continuous fall, and a telegram from Mr. Hunt, Head
of the Commonwealth Weather Bureau, received a few hours previously,
informed us of a storm-centre south of New Zealand, and the expectation
of fresh south-westerly winds.

The piles of loose gear presented an indescribable scene of chaos, and,
even as we rolled lazily in the increasing swell, the water commenced
to run about the decks. There was no time to be lost in securing movable
articles and preparing the ship for heavy weather. All hands set to
work.

On the main deck the cargo was brought up flush with the top of the
bulwarks, and consisted of the wireless masts, two huts, a large
motor-launch, cases of dog biscuits and many other sundries. Butter to
the extent of a couple of tons was accommodated chiefly on the roof of
the main deck-house, where it was out of the way of the dogs. The roof
of the chart-house, which formed an extension of the bridge proper,
did not escape, for the railing offered facilities for lashing sledges;
besides, there was room for tide-gauges, meteorological screens, and
cases of fresh eggs and apples. Somebody happened to think of space
unoccupied in the meteorological screens, and a few fowls were housed
therein.

On the poop-deck there were the benzine, sledges, and the chief magnetic
observatory. An agglomeration of instruments and private gear rendered
the ward-room well nigh impossible of access, and it was some days
before everything was jammed away into corners. An unoccupied five-berth
cabin was filled with loose instruments, while other packages were
stowed into the occupied cabins, so as to almost defeat the purpose for
which they were intended.

The deck was so encumbered that only at rare intervals was it visible.
However, by our united efforts everything was well secured by 8 P.M.

It was dusk, and the distant highlands were limned in silhouette against
the twilight sky. A tiny, sparkling lamp glimmered fro