when the whole seventeen were safely picketed on the floe.  From the moment of getting on the snow they seemed to take a new lease of life, and I haven’t a doubt they will pick up very rapidly.  It really is a triumph to have got them through safely and as well as they are.  Poor brutes, how they must have enjoyed their first roll, and how glad they must be to have freedom to scratch themselves!  It is evident all have suffered from skin irritation—­one can imagine the horror of suffering from such an ill for weeks without being able to get at the part that itched.  I note that now they are picketed together they administer kindly offices to each other; one sees them gnawing away at each other’s flanks in most amicable and obliging manner.

Meares and the dogs were out early, and have been running to and fro most of the day with light loads.  The great trouble with them has been due to the fatuous conduct of the penguins.  Groups of these have been constantly leaping on to our floe.  From the moment of landing on their feet their whole attitude expressed devouring curiosity and a pig-headed disregard for their own safety.  They waddle forward, poking their heads to and fro in their usually absurd way, in spite of a string of howling dogs straining to get at them.  ‘Hulloa,’ they seem to say, ‘here’s a game—­what do all you ridiculous things want?’ And they come a few steps nearer.  The dogs make a rush as far as their leashes or harness allow.  The penguins are not daunted in the least, but their ruffs go up and they squawk with semblance of anger, for all the world as though they were rebuking a rude stranger—­their attitude might be imagined to convey ’Oh, that’s the sort of animal you are; well, you’ve come to the wrong place—­we aren’t going to be bluffed and bounced by you,’ and then the final fatal steps forward are taken and they come within reach.  There is a spring, a squawk, a horrid red patch on the snow, and the incident is closed.  Nothing can stop these silly birds.  Members of our party rush to head them off, only to be met with evasions—­the penguins squawk and duck as much as to say, ‘What’s it got to do with you, you silly ass?  Let us alone.’

With the first spilling of blood the skua gulls assemble, and soon, for them at least, there is a gruesome satisfaction to be reaped.  Oddly enough, they don’t seem to excite the dogs; they simply alight within a few feet and wait for their turn in the drama, clamouring and quarrelling amongst themselves when the spoils accrue.  Such incidents were happening constantly to-day, and seriously demoralising the dog teams.  Meares was exasperated again and again.

The motor sledges were running by the afternoon, Day managing one and Nelson the other.  In spite of a few minor breakdowns they hauled good loads to the shore.  It is early to call them a success, but they are certainly extremely promising.

The next thing to be got out of the ship was the hut, and the large quantity of timber comprising it was got out this afternoon.