Part I: Seals teeth and whales ears - Scott Polar Research Institute ...

lively, questioning mind. He fitted in very well and was always willing to help others
with whatever tasks were going. He was particularly helpful to Derek and myself in
our fieldwork. And he learnt a lot. He enjoyed the outside activities and took to
skiing like a natural. Having an extra man made all the difference to the routine work
of keeping ourselves alive and maintaining the facilities. Initially all of us were
occupied unpacking new stores and exclaiming at various ‘goodies’, finding
treasures and cleaning up; wood-wool packing was everywhere. We unpacked yet
more stores, then stacked the remaining crates and found that the H2O2 cylinders
(needed for Hydrogen production for the met balloons) were leaking.
The newly arrived Seagull outboard motor was much appreciated! But a few days
later it was not working! Dammit! Next morning we tinkered with it and Charlie and
I made a frame to attach it to the boat. We were able to resume our field activities on
11 December, when we went to Gourlay by boat. The outboard's performance was
excellent and we returned in thick fog, steering by compass across Paal Harbour. We
had fried penguin eggs for supper, but some were in a late embryo stage! The new
supply of mutton carcasses was already "going off".
On 15 December I noted that we all spent the day carrying the remaining 1 2 cwt
(56 lb) sacks of coal up from the beach, where the ship had left them. It was hard
work. We each carried 10 sacks and then had a half-hour rest before resuming. That
day according to my diary I carried in all 50 sacks, that is 1 1 2 tons 70 ft up from shore
to base. Next day we were again shifting coal all day; I brought up 30 sacks. But the
pile on shore to be moved didn't seem to diminish. After a further day of coal
carrying however, we had brought all but 15 sacks up to the hut - some 3 1 4 tons in
three days!
On Christmas Day l948 we went out to Bare Rock where Derek took a round of
angles by theodolite from the cairn, also from near the ammunition hut, and I did
some sketching. We had a pleasant, but quiet day, consuming an excellent Christmas
cake, iced and with a seal, tripod and sling on top of it, marking the strenuous
research work we were doing (described later). We played the gramophone. At the
end of December I carried out a stamp inventory and in early January finished the
Post Office business. One lovely day with 5 hours of sunshine we spent clearing up
the site and got up all the remaining stores except some burst coal sacks. We had a
bonfire of rubbish. There was no time to write letters; hopefully next day?
In early March I typed out stores requisitions and later made a list of medical
stores. On 18 March we had a pre-winter cleanup.
Derek took charge of the outboard motor one day, but this was a mistake as we
spent an hour or so trying to get it started and then had to row across to Balin Point
beach. (However it must be said, despite my sarcasm, that I had been equally
unsuccessful on occasion before then!). Now I tried unsuccessfully to start it on the
way across - probably the carburetor was flooded - but then I had no difficulty
starting the engine for the return trip. One morning towards the end of March, we
quickly got the outboard going and Derek and Charlie went up to the icecap on
glaciological work. In the afternoon we were all set to go across the bay for a seal
count, but lost the outboard overboard! We fished for it but without success. It was
late by then so we went back to the hut and I got on with the cooking. A few days
later we lost our dory in a storm - a catastrophe. We had gone over to Drying Point to
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