Bickerton started to construct a hand-dredge, which was
ready for use by the next evening. It was a lovely, cloudless day on
the 16th and the sea-ice, after more than two weeks, still spread to the
north in a firm, unbroken sheet. We went out on skis to reconnoitre, and
found that the nearest "lead" was too far away to make dredging a safe
proposition. So we were contented to kill a seal and bring it home
before lunch, continuing to sink the ice-shaft above the moraine for the
rest of the day.

The wind rose to the "seventies" on September 17, and the sea-ice
was scattered to the north. On the 19th--a fine day--there were many
detached pieces of floe which drifted in with a northerly breeze, and
on one of these, floating in an ice-girt cove to the west, a sea-leopard
was observed sunning himself. He was a big, vicious-looking brute, and
we determined to secure him if possible. The first thing was to dispatch
him before he escaped from the floe. This Madigan did in three shots
from a Winchester rifle. A long steel-shod sledge was then dragged from
the Hut and used to bridge the interval between the ice-foot and the
floe. After the specimen had been flayed, the skin and a good supply
of dogs' meat were hauled across and sledged home. On the 30th another
sea-leopard came swimming in near the harbour's entrance, apparently on
the look-out for seals or penguins. Including the one seen during 1912,
only three of these animals were observed during our two years' sojourn
in Adelie Land.

Dredgings in depths up to five fathoms were done inside the boat harbour
and just off its entrance on five separate occasions between September
22 and the end of the month. Many "worms," crustaceans, pteropods,
asteroids, gastropods and hydroids were obtained, and McLean and I had
many interesting hours classifying the specimens. The former preserved
and labelled them, establishing a small laboratory in the loft above
the "dining-room." The only disadvantage of this arrangement was that
various "foreign bodies" would occasionally come tumbling through the
interspaces between the flooring boards of the loft while a meal was in
progress.

Some Antarctic petrels were shot and examined for external and internal
parasites. Fish were caught in two traps made by Hodgeman and myself
in October, but unfortunately the larger of the two was lost during a
blizzard. However, on October 11 a haul of fifty-two fish was made with
hand-lines off the boat ha