Atkinson’s hand was dreadful to behold; he had blisters like great puffed-out slugs on the last three fingers of his right hand, while on the forefinger were three more bulbous-looking blisters, one of them an inch in diameter.  For days and days the hand had constantly to be bandaged, P. O. Evans doing nurse and doing it exceedingly well.  Considering all things, we were fairly free of frostbite in the Scott expedition, and there is no doubt that Atkinson’s accident served as an example to all of us to “ca’ canny.”

Although we had our proportion of blizzard days I do not think our meteorological record showed any undue frequency of high wind and blizzards; but, as Simpson in his meteorological discussion points out, we suffered far more in this respect than Amundsen, who camped on the Ice Barrier far from the land.  It is a bitter pill to swallow, but in the light of after events one is compelled to state that had we stuck to our original plan and made our landing four hundred miles or so to the eastward of Ross Island, we should have escaped, in all probability, the greater part of the bad weather experienced by us.  Comparison with Framheim, Amundsen’s observation station, shows that we at Cape Evans had ten times as much high wind as the Norwegians experienced.  Our wind velocities reached greater speeds than 60 miles an hour, whereas there does not appear to be any record of wind higher than 45 miles an hour at Amundsen’s base at the Bay of Whales.  Some of our anemometer records were very interesting.  In the month of July, when Wilson’s party was absent, we recorded 258 hours of blizzards, that is, of southerly winds of more than 25 miles an hour speed.  This was the record for the winter months, but while we were depot-laying and waiting for the sea to freeze over at Hut Point, no less than 404 hours of blizzard were recorded in one month—­March.  Think of it, well over half the month was blizzard, with its consequent discomfort and danger.  The blizzard which nearly caused the loss of the Cape Crozier party measured a wind force up to 84 miles an hour; no wonder the canvas roof of the stone hut there was swept away!

Our minimum temperature at the hut meteorological station was 50 degrees below zero in July, 1911, and the maximum temperature during the winter occurred in June when the thermometer stood as high as +19 degrees.

Our ten ponies stood the winter very well, all things being considered.  One nearly died with cramp, but he pulled round in extraordinary fashion after keeping Oates and myself up all night nursing him.  In spite of the names we assigned to the animals, largely on account of their being presented to us by certain schools, institutions, and individuals, the ponies were called by names conferred on them by the sailors and those who led them out for exercise.  The ten animals that now survived were James Pigg, Christopher, Victor, Nobby, Jehu, Michael, Snatcher, Bones, Snippets, and a Manchurian animal called Chinaman,