Page:Scott's Last Expedition, Volume 2.djvu/154

from the S.E., with lots of drift. Our anemometer registered wind at 84 miles an hour and then broke; some of the squalls after this must have been of hurricane force. The dome tent which I had up for magnetic observations was blown away, and we never saw a sign of it again. The wind eased in the evening, but blew a gale all night.

A very big sea was breaking on the south shore, the spray being carried right across the peninsula, coating our hut with ice. During the heavier squalls it was impossible to stand. The hut shook a great deal, but beyond a few things being shaken off the shelves no damage was done.

The following day was lovely, and we had a fine aurora in the evening. An arc of yellow stretched from N.W. to N.E., while a green and red curtain extended from the N.W. horizon to the zenith.

On March 27 we launched the 'pram,' which is a Norwegian skiff, and tried trawling off the south shore, but did not do very well, our total catch being one sea louse, one sea slug, and one spider; certainly the fishermen, Priestley, Browning, and Dickason, had plenty of difficulties to contend with, as the sea ice was forming so fast that they were compelled to spend most of their time breaking a passage through it.

March 30.—We had another wonderful aurora display this evening. It was like a great curtain of light shaken by a wind, the lower edges being a red colour.

April 9.—The last week has been calm and snowy, and young ice is forming very quickly on the south shore, but on the north shore where there is more swell the sea