the daily task of shovelling out snow was now at an end. Further,
Hodgeman and he built an annex out of spare timber to connect the
entrance veranda with the store. This replaced the old snow-tunnel
which had melted away, and, when completed and padded outside with old
mattresses, was facetiously styled the "North-West Passage." The only
thing which later arose to disturb the composure of the storeman was
the admission of the dogs to a compartment in the veranda on the eastern
side. His constant care then became a heap of mutton carcases which the
dogs in passing or during the occasional escapades from their shelter
were always eager to attack.

Hodgeman helped to change the appearance of the living-hut by cutting
the table in two and, since there was now plenty of room, by putting in
more shelves for a larder on which the storeman displayed his inviting
wares to the cook, who could think of nothing original for the next
meal.

McLean undertook the duties of ice-cutting and coal-carrying throughout
the year, kept the biological log and assisted in general observations.
He also sent off sealed messages in bottles, regularly, on the chance of
their being picked up on the high seas, thereby giving some indication
of the direction of currents.

Jeffryes was occupied regularly every night listening attentively for
wireless signals and calling at intervals. The continuous winds soon
caused many of the wire stays of the main wireless mast to become slack,
and these Jeffryes pulled taut on his daily rounds.

Looking back and forward, we could not but feel that the sledging
programme of the previous summer had been so comprehensive that the
broad features of the land were ascertained over a wide radius; beyond
what we, with our weakened resources of the second year, could reach.
The various observations we were carrying on were adding to the value of
the scientific results, but we could not help feeling disappointed that
our lot was not cast in a new and more clement region.

It was to be a dreary and difficult time for the five men who had
volunteered to remain behind in order to make a thorough search for
myself and comrades. They were men whom I had learned to appreciate
during the first year, and I now saw their sterling characters in a new
light. To Jeffryes all was fresh, and we envied him the novelties of
a new world, rough and inhospitable though it was. As for me, it was
sufficient to feel that

...He that tos