Little is known of the lighter side of a Weddell’s life.  It seems probable that their courtship is a ponderous affair.  About October 26 Atkinson found an embryo of about a fortnight old, which is an interesting stage, and this was preserved with many others we found, but all of them were too old to be of any real value.  I think there is a good deal of variation in the size of the calves at birth.  There is certainly much difference between the care of individual mothers, some of which are most concerned when you approach, while others take little notice or lop away from you, leaving their calf to look after itself, or to find another mother.  Sometimes they are none too careful not to roll or lie on their calves.

One afternoon I drove a bull seal towards a cow with a calf.  The cow went for him bald-headed, with open mouth, bellowing and most disturbed.  The bull defended himself as best he might but absolutely refused to take the offensive.  The calf imitated his mother as best he could.

Meanwhile Atkinson and Dimitri took some mule-fodder and dog-biscuit to a point twelve miles south of Corner Camp.  They started on October 14 with the two dog-teams and found a most terrible surface on the Barrier, the sledges sometimes sinking as far as the ‘fore-and-afters’; the minimum temperatures the first two nights were -39 deg. and -25 deg.; strong blizzard at Corner Camp; a lie-up for a day and a half, before they could push on in wind and drift and lay the depot.  The dogs ran back from Corner Camp to Hut Point on October 19, a distance of thirty miles.  Three miles from Corner Camp three dogs of Atkinson’s team fell into a crevasse, one of them falling right down to the length of his harness.  The rest of the team, however, pulled on, and dragged the three dogs out as they went.  Atkinson lost his driving-stick, which was left standing in the snow and served to mark a place to be avoided.  Altogether a rather lucky escape:  two men out alone with two dog-teams are somewhat helpless in case of emergency.

On October 25 Dimitri and I started to take a further depot out to Corner Camp with the two dog-teams, pulling about 600 lbs. each.  We found a much better surface than that experienced by Atkinson; in places really smooth and hard.  “It is good to be out again in such weather, and it has been a very pleasant day.”  The minimum was only -24 deg. that night, and we reached Corner Camp on the afternoon of the next day, following the old tracks where possible, and halting occasionally to hunt when we lost them.  “Here we made the depot and the dogs had a rest of 31/2 hours, and two biscuits.  It was quaint to see them waiting for more food, for they knew they had not had their full whack."[287]

There was plenty of evidence that the Barrier had moved a long way during the last year.  It had buckled up the sea-ice at Pram Point; there were at least three new and well-marked undulations before reaching Corner Camp; and the camp itself had moved visibly, judged by the bearings and sketches we possessed.  I believe the annual movement had not been less than half a mile.