As soon as I had left the island to get help for the rest of the
Expedition, Wild set all hands to collect as many seals and penguins as
possible, in case their stay was longer than was at first anticipated.
A sudden rise in temperature caused a whole lot to go bad and become
unfit for food, so while a fair reserve was kept in hand too much was
not accumulated.
At first the meals, consisting mostly of seal meat with one hot drink
per day, were cooked on a stove in the open. The snow and wind,
besides making it very unpleasant for the cook, filled all the cooking-
pots with sand and grit, so during the winter the cooking was done
inside the hut.
A little Cerebos salt had been saved, and this was issued out at the
rate of three-quarters of an ounce per man per week. Some of the
packets containing the salt had broken, so that all did not get the
full ration. On the other hand, one man dropped his week's ration on
the floor of the hut, amongst the stones and dirt. It was quickly
collected, and he found to his delight that he had enough now to last
him for three weeks. Of course it was not ALL salt. The hot drink
consisted at first of milk made from milk-powder up to about one-
quarter of its proper strength. This was later on diluted still more,
and sometimes replaced by a drink made from a pea-soup-like packing
from the Bovril sledging rations.
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