During our whole stay we must have killed some two hundred and fifty of them, by far the greater number of which were shot in the autumn immediately after our arrival.  This little inroad had no appreciable effect.  The numerous survivors, who had been eye-witnesses of their companions’ sudden death, did not seem to have the slightest idea that the Bay of Whales had become for the time being a somewhat unsafe place of residence.

As early as September, while the ice still stretched under in the course of two months, and to us this was only a source of satisfaction, as our quarters became all the warmer on this account; but whether a whaling station would find a similar fate equally convenient is rather doubtful.

Lastly, it must be said that, although in the bay itself huge schools of whales were of frequent occurrence, we did not receive the impression that there was any very great number of them out in Ross Sea.  The species most commonly seen was the Finner; after that the Blue Whale.

As regards seals, they appeared in great quantities along the edge of the Barrier so long as the sea-ice still lay there; after the break-up of the ice the Bay of Whales was a favourite resort of theirs all through the summer.  This was due to its offering them an easy access to the dry surface, where they could abandon themselves to their favourite occupation of basking in the sunshine.

During our whole stay we must have killed some two hundred and fifty of them, by far the greater number of which were shot in the autumn immediately after our arrival.  This little inroad had no appreciable effect.  The numerous survivors, who had been eye-witnesses of their companions’ sudden death, did not seem to have the slightest idea that the Bay of Whales had become for the time being a somewhat unsafe place of residence.

As early as September, while the ice still stretched The name crab-eater may possibly evoke ideas of some ferocious creature; in that case it is misleading.  The animal that bears it is, without question, the most amicable of the three species.  It is of about the same size as our native seal, brisk and active in its movements, and is constantly exercising itself in high jumps from the water on to the ice-foot.  Even on the ice it can work its way along so fast that it is all a man can do to keep up.  Its skin is extraordinarily beautiful —­ grey, with a sheen of silver and small dark spots.

One is often asked whether seal’s flesh does not taste of train oil.  It seems to be a common assumption that it does so.  This, however, is a mistake; the oil and the taste of it are only present in the layer of blubber, an inch thick, which covers the seal’s body like a protective armour.  The flesh itself contains no fat; on the other hand, it is extremely rich in blood and its taste in consequence reminds one of black-puddings.  The flesh of the Weddell seal is very dark in colour; in the frying-pan it turns quite black.  The flesh of the crab-eater is of about the same colour as beef, and to us, at any rate, its taste was equally good.  We therefore always tried to get crab-eater when providing food for ourselves.