ns, so the flickering and
going out of the lamps warned immediately of danger, and a watch was set.
Normally the chimney would have served, but this itself was buried under
the snow until built up afresh.

The winter passed in dismal hardship, and even when the rare spells of
fine weather occurred the party dare not venture far afield in their
meagre, oil-saturated clothing--severe frostbite would have spelt
disaster.

What the place must have looked like by moonlight I hate to think; by
daylight with sunshine it looked bad enough, but from Levick's
description it looked, when the moon was shining through storm cloud,
like an inferno, with its lugubrious ridges, its inky shadows, and wicked
ice-gleams. The odd figures of the blubber-smeared, grimy men added the
Dante touch.

The sun came back at last, and with it the party's spirits rose
considerably; they indulged in bets and jokes at one another's expense.
Browning and Dickason were undoubtedly the wittiest, and "the fish supper
bet" is worth inclusion. Short said these two started an argument on the
name of a certain public-house situate on Portsmouth Hard. One said one
name, one argued another, until Dr. Levick was invited to settle the
dispute by arbitration, the loser to stand the winner a fish supper.
Eventually Browning was adjudged to be correct, and Dickason in a fit of
generosity shouted, "All right, old man, and for every fish you eat I'll
stand you a quart of beer." "Right-o, the only fish I cares for is
whitebait," replied Browning.

Towards the end of the winter, owing to the unusual diet, sickness set in
in the shape of enteritis. Browning suffered dreadfully, but always
remained cheerful. The ravages of the illness weakened the party sadly,
and details are too horrible to write about--suffice it that the party
lost control of their organs, a circumstance that rendered existence in
their wintering place a nightmare of privations.

Preparations were made for the party's departure in the spring and the
sledges overhauled. A depot of geological specimens was established and
marked by a bamboo.

A curious ailment developed itself, which was named "Igloo Back," from
constant bending in the low-roofed igloo. It was due to the stretching of
the ligaments around the spine and was a painful thing for the
"cave-dwellers."

Campbell and his companions started for Cape Evans on September 30.
Progress was slow and the party weak, but thanks to their grit and