Their heads were tied on either side to the stanchions of the
stall, and so if they tried to lie down complications might arise. More
alarming was the one serious case of illness, preceded by a slighter case
of a similar nature in another pony. Jimmy Pigg had a slight attack of
colic in the middle of June, but he was feeding all right again during
the evening of the same day. It was at noon, July 14, that Bones went off
his feed. This was followed by spasms of acute pain. "Every now and again
he attempted to lie down, and Oates eventually thought it was wiser to
allow him to do so. Once down, his head gradually drooped until he lay at
length, every now and then twitching very horribly with the pain, and
from time to time raising his head and even scrambling to his legs when
it grew intense. I don't think I ever realized before how pathetic a
horse could be under such conditions; no sound escapes him, his misery
can only be indicated by those distressing spasms and by dumb movement of
the head with a patient expression always suggestive of appeal."[147]
Towards midnight it seemed that we were to lose him, and, apart from
other considerations, we knew that unless we could keep all the surviving
animals alive the risks of failure in the coming journey were much
increased.
"It was shortly after midnight when I [Scott] was told that the animal
seemed a little easier.
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