The condition of the gloves and headgear shown me by some discouraged
men illustrated the proverbial carelessness of the sailor. The
articles had frozen stiff during the night, and the owners considered,
it appeared, that this state of affairs provided them with a grievance,
or at any rate gave them the right to grumble. They said they wanted
dry clothes and that their health would not admit of their doing any
work. Only by rather drastic methods were they induced to turn to.
Frozen gloves and helmets undoubtedly are very uncomfortable, and the
proper thing is to keep these articles thawed by placing them inside
one's shirt during the night.
The southerly gale, bringing with it much snow, was so severe that as
I went along the beach to kill a seal I was blown down by a gust. The
cooking-pots from No. 2 tent took a flying run into the sea at the same
moment. A case of provisions which had been placed on them to keep
them safe had been capsized by a squall. These pots, fortunately, were
not essential, since nearly all our cooking was done over the blubber-
stove. The galley was set up by the rocks close to my tent, in a hole
we had dug through the debris of the penguin rookery. Cases of stores
gave some shelter from the wind and a spread sail kept some of the snow
off the cook when he was at work.
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