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

depart on the first visit of Biscoe which was expected to be in early December, and
travel round the other bases, back to Port Stanley and up to Montevideo. From there
I hoped to catch the RMS Andes again, as in l950; I understood that she still made a
call at Lisbon, where I hoped to stay with Maureen’s family.
The South Georgia Survey people had asked me to go with them on their first
journey inland, probably from Cumberland Bay to the south end of the island,
because of my previous experience. I understood that they had only two
mountaineers in the party with previous snow and ice experience. I hoped that I
might be able to fit it in on top of my other work, but I hadn’t much time left and
wanted to do two sealing trips before the sealing season ended on 25 November.
Then I had plenty of reports and other work to do. Still it would be very interesting
and I should enjoy it - just like old times with the boys at Signy and Coronation
Island. Incidentally their expedition was under contract to provide articles for
Illustrated London News.
Nothing much happened at the beginning of November. The weather had been
very bad for whaling so there was much "whale sickness" at Pesca. It had also been
bad for sealing and I was still waiting for my last two trips. The Albatros was out in
the field at the time, but for only a short sealing trip because its crew was needed for
unloading the Southern Raven that was due in on 10 November, and might have some
more mail.
I mentioned earlier that we had ‘welcomed’ some new people, but didn't think
much of them. One of the women was not very pleasing, nor was her husband.
Neither of the new wireless operators seemed capable of doing his job and Charlie
was going out on the Harpon;. He was now busy packing. All year Ken Butler, the
Magistrate, had been saying how incompetent he was, although in fact it was just the
opposite and now they found he was indispensable! There had been a move afoot to
turn me out of my three rooms but I was resisting it. In my own FIDS complement
there was some discord. The forecaster, Danny Borland, who was here when I
arrived in March and left the place in a terrible mess when he departed on leave, will
take over from me when I go and I am afraid it will be just the same mess again
within a short time.
[I had been having some arguments with the higher authorities but I felt I had
won most of them.] However, that didn’t make them any easier to deal with, perhaps
the reverse, and I seriously considered a proposal from Duncan Carse to join his
expedition, but realising that it would mean an extra six months away I decided to
return to UK at the first opportunity. That was by first boat to Port Stanley and
thence to Montevideo and on to Europe by Royal Mail Line I hoped. As the time for
my departure approached, most days just then I spent working on the seal
management plan and writing up some of my thesis, which was likely to be rather a
thick tome by the time I had finished. It had been well worth while coming down
again for the extra time in the field and I considered that when my results were
published they should cause quite a stir in zoological circles.
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