Page:Scott's Last Expedition, Volume 2.djvu/158

officer. His medical duties have been nil, with the exception of stopping one of my teeth, a most successful operation; but as he had been flensing a seal a few days before, his fingers tasted strongly of blubber!

Priestley's geology keeps him wandering on the top or on the slopes of Cape Adare, and he certainly gets more exercise than any of us.

He is also meteorologist, and when he does have any spare moments is out with the trawl or fish trap.

I am doing a survey of Cape Adare and the magnetic observations.

Abbott is carpenter and has the building of the kayaks.

Browning is assistant meteorologist and his special care is the acetylene gas plant, a thankless task, as any escape of gas or bad light brings a certain amount of criticism.

Dickason has proved himself a most excellent cook and baker, while the 'galley' is a model of neatness.

The following was our daily routine during the winter:

At 7 a.m. we turned out, one hand going down to the ice foot to get ice for cooking purposes. A number of empty cases were kept full of ice in the 'lean to' outside the hut for use during blizzards when we could not get down to the ice foot. Breakfast was at 8 a.m., and consisted of porridge, seal steak or bacon, and tea. After breakfast we would turn to at our various jobs and worked till 1 p.m., when we had a cold lunch, bread and cheese and sometimes sardines, then work again until 4 p.m., when we had tea. After tea we cleared up decks, and then the rest of the day everyone had to himself.