A few boxes of army biscuits soaked with sea-water were distributed at one meal.  They were in such a state that they would not have been looked at a second time under ordinary circumstances, but to us on a floating lump of ice, over three hundred miles from land, and that quite hypothetical, and with the unplumbed sea beneath us, they were luxuries indeed.  Wild’s tent made a pudding of theirs with some dripping.

Although keeping in mind the necessity for strict economy with our scanty store of food, I knew how important it was to keep the men cheerful, and that the depression occasioned by our surroundings and our precarious position could to some extent be alleviated by increasing the rations, at least until we were more accustomed to our new mode of life.  That this was successful is shown in their diaries.

“Day by day goes by much the same as one another.  We work; we talk; we eat.  Ah, how we eat!  No longer on short rations, we are a trifle more exacting than we were when we first commenced our ‘simple life,’ but by comparison with home standards we are positive barbarians, and our gastronomic rapacity knows no bounds.

“All is eaten that comes to each tent, and everything is most carefully and accurately divided into as many equal portions as there are men in the tent.  One member then closes his eyes or turns his head away and calls out the names at random, as the cook for the day points to each portion, saying at the same time, ‘Whose?’

“Partiality, however unintentional it may be, is thus entirely obviated and every one feels satisfied that all is fair, even though one may look a little enviously at the next man’s helping, which differs in some especially appreciated detail from one’s own.  We break the Tenth Commandment energetically, but as we are all in the same boat in this respect, no one says a word.  We understand each other’s feelings quite sympathetically.

“It is just like school-days over again, and very jolly it is too, for the time being!”

Later on, as the prospect of wintering in the pack became more apparent, the rations had to be considerably reduced.  By that time, however, everybody had become more accustomed to the idea and took it quite as a matter of course.

Our meals now consisted in the main of a fairly generous helping of seal or penguin, either boiled or fried.  As one man wrote: 

“We are now having enough to eat, but not by any means too much; and every one is always hungry enough to eat every scrap he can get.  Meals are invariably taken very seriously, and little talking is done till the hoosh is finished.”

Our tents made somewhat cramped quarters, especially during meal-times.

“Living in a tent without any furniture requires a little getting used to.  For our meals we have to sit on the floor, and it is surprising how awkward it is to eat in such a position; it is better by far to kneel and sit back on one’s heels, as do the Japanese.”