It was the worst job that we had had throughout the
Expedition, and we felt their loss keenly.
I had to be continually rearranging the weekly menu. The possible
number of permutations of seal meat were decidedly limited. The fact
that the men did not know what was coming gave them a sort of mental
speculation, and the slightest variation was of great value.
"We caught an adelie to-day (January 26) and another whale was seen at
close quarters, but no seals.
"We are now very short of blubber, and in consequence one stove has to
be shut down. We only get one hot beverage a day, the tea at
breakfast. For the rest we have iced water. Sometimes we are short
even of this, so we take a few chips of ice in a tobacco-tin to bed
with us. In the morning there is about a spoonful of water in the tin,
and one has to lie very still all night so as not to spill it."
To provide some variety in the food, I commenced to use the sledging
ration at half strength twice a week.
The ice between us and Ocean Camp, now only about five miles away and
actually to the south-west of us, was very broken, but I decided to
send Macklin and Hurley back with their dogs to see if there was any
more food that could be added to our scanty stock. I gave them written
instructions to take no undue risk or cross any wide-open leads, and
said that they were to return by midday the next day.
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