The ice problems in our neighbourhood become more fascinating and elusive as one re-examines them by the returning light; some will be solved.

Monday, August 21.—­Weights and measurements last evening.  We have remained surprisingly constant.  There seems to have been improvement in lung power and grip is shown by spirometer and dynamometer, but weights have altered very little.  I have gone up nearly 3 lbs. in winter, but the increase has occurred during the last month, when I have been taking more exercise.  Certainly there is every reason to be satisfied with the general state of health.

The ponies are becoming a handful.  Three of the four exercised to-day so far have run away—­Christopher and Snippets broke away from Oates and Victor from Bowers.  Nothing but high spirits, there is no vice in these animals; but I fear we are going to have trouble with sledges and snow-shoes.  At present the Soldier dare not issue oats or the animals would become quite unmanageable.  Bran is running low; he wishes he had more of it.

Tuesday, August 22.—­I am renewing study of glacier problems; the face of the ice cliff 300 yards east of the homestead is full of enigmas.  Yesterday evening Ponting gave us a lecture on his Indian travels.  He is very frank in acknowledging his debt to guide-books for information, nevertheless he tells his story well and his slides are wonderful.  In personal reminiscence he is distinctly dramatic—­he thrilled us a good deal last night with a vivid description of a sunrise in the sacred city of Benares.  In the first dim light the waiting, praying multitude of bathers, the wonderful ritual and its incessant performance; then, as the sun approaches, the hush—­the effect of thousands of worshippers waiting in silence—­a silence to be felt.  Finally, as the first rays appear, the swelling roar of a single word from tens of thousands of throats:  ‘Ambah!’ It was artistic to follow this picture of life with the gruesome horrors of the ghat.  This impressionist style of lecturing is very attractive and must essentially cover a great deal of ground.  So we saw Jeypore, Udaipore, Darjeeling, and a confusing number of places—­temples, monuments and tombs in profusion, with remarkable pictures of the wonderful Taj Mahal—­horses, elephants, alligators, wild boars, and flamingoes—­warriors, fakirs, and nautch girls—­an impression here and an impression there.

It is worth remembering how attractive this style can be—­in lecturing one is inclined to give too much attention to connecting links which join one episode to another.  A lecture need not be a connected story; perhaps it is better it should not be.