The engine-room staff are busy on the
engine, and though the ship is crowded there is order everywhere, and it
is clean.
But the scene on the morning of Saturday, November 26, baffles
description. There is no deck visible: in addition to 30 tons of coal in
sacks on deck there are 21/2 tons of petrol, stowed in drums which in turn
are cased in wood. On the top of sacks and cases, and on the roof of the
ice-house are thirty-three dogs, chained far enough apart to keep them
from following their first instinct--to fight the nearest animal they can
see: the ship is a hubbub of howls. In the forecastle and in the four
stalls on deck are the nineteen ponies, wedged tightly in their wooden
stalls, and dwarfing everything are the three motor sledges in their huge
crates, 16' x 5' x 4', two of them on either side of the main hatch, the
third across the break of the poop. They are covered with tarpaulins and
secured in every possible way, but it is clear that in a big sea their
weight will throw a great strain upon the deck. It is not altogether a
cheerful sight. But all that care and skill can do has been done to
ensure that the deck cargo will not shift, and that the animals may be as
sheltered as possible from wind and seas. And it's no good worrying about
what can't be helped.
FOOTNOTES:
[36] Vide _Scott's Last Expedition_, vol.
Pages:
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162