the Shack, and a very small piece put on the fire at intervals
always ensured a good heat. Sea elephants had become scarce, so, in
order to lay in a supply of fuel for the next few weeks, we went round
to Aerial Cove on the 3rd and killed the largest animal we could find,
afterwards carrying the blubber round to the Shack. We came through
Catch Me and had the same old experience. Hamilton examined the contents
of the stomach of the sea elephant and found gravel, stones, cuttlefish,
beaks and "worms" in abundance.

A violent north-west gale during the early morning hours of the 4th
reached a maximum velocity of fifty-two miles an hour at 5.20 A.M., but
at 8 A.M. it began to weaken rapidly and an hour later had shifted to
west-south-west, coming from that point as a moderate gale for the rest
of the day. As was usual with winds having any southerly component, snow
and squalls of soft hail were experienced. With the exception of the
wind-vane, which was blown a few yards into the tussock, nothing was
damaged.

In the afternoon Blake and I had a trip down to the moraine which he had
found a few days previously. After a heavy one and a half hours' walk,
the last half-mile of which was along a creek bed, with water ankle-deep
all the way, we reached the spot: the site of one of the large penguin
rookeries up on the hills at the back of "The Nuggets." The sun showed
between squalls, and Blake took some interesting photographs of rocks
showing striae and other glacial characteristics. We battled with
one enormous boulder for some time before getting it into a suitable
position for the camera, and afterwards walked right through the glacial
area. The U-shaped character of the valleys was very pronounced, while
boulder-clay obtruded itself everywhere on our notice.

Hobart wireless station was by this time in working order, a fact which
greatly facilitated wireless business. Sandell took the engine to pieces
early in the month and gave it, as well as the fittings, a thorough
overhaul and cleaning. We received a message on the 7th, saying that the
'Aurora' was leaving Hobart on the 13th for a sub-antarctic cruise and
would call at the island. At the same time I was requested to send a
list of articles required. I found, after going through the stock
and consulting each member, that we needed nothing but strong boots,
cartridges, dungaree trousers, coarse salt, cigarettes and fresh
vegetables.

A persistent area of high pressur