The threat of the sea had
been our portion during many, many days, and a respite meant much to
weary bodies and jaded minds.
The accompanying plan will indicate our exact position more clearly
than I can describe it. The cliffs at the back of the beach were
inaccessible except at two points where there were steep snow-slopes.
We were not worried now about food, for, apart from our own rations,
there were seals on the beach and we could see others in the water
outside the reef. Every now and then one of the animals would rise in
the shallows and crawl up on the beach, which evidently was a
recognized place of resort for its kind. A small rocky island which
protected us to some extent from the north-westerly wind carried a
ringed-penguin rookery. These birds were of migratory habit and might
be expected to leave us before the winter set in fully, but in the
meantime they were within our reach. These attractions, however, were
overridden by the fact that the beach was open to the attack of wind
and sea from the north-east and east. Easterly gales are more
prevalent than western in that area of the Antarctic during the winter.
Before turning in that night I studied the whole position and weighed
every chance of getting the boats and our stores into a place of safety
out of reach of the water.
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