Many as the duties—such as taking the meteorological observations, looking after hut, ponies and dogs, and keeping up the fire—were, they were not unpleasant: for when our turn came round we had a chance to wash clothes, darn socks, and do little jobs which could not receive much attention during the day. The night-watchman generally took his bath either once a fortnight or once a month, as his inclination prompted him.
The watchman during the earlier months was kept busy enough, for the ponies were constantly trying to break loose and, generally speaking, to upset things in the stable, and it was a comfort when they at last learned to keep fairly quiet.
Another difficulty the watchman encountered was that of keeping the hut warm when, instead of lumps of coal, he had to content himself with very fine stuff. To meet this difficulty we had recourse to lumps of seal blubber, and it was good to know that with the large supply of seals obtainable in these latitudes no expedition need want emergency fuel.
Towards mid-winter an institution known as eleven-o'clock tea grew into existence, the Professor being greatly attached to this, and generally undertaking to make the tea for the men still out of bed. By one o'clock, however, most of the hut party were wrapped in more or less noisy slumber. The watchman's most trying time was about five o'clock in the morning: for then one's eyes grew heavy, and great effort was needed to prevent oneself from falling asleep.
At 7.30 A.M. Roberts was called, and at this hour Armytage or Mackay was roused up to feed the ponies; but before mid-winter day Armytage took over the entire responsibility of the stables and ponies. At 8.30 A.M. all hands were called, special attention being paid to turning out the messman for the day; and at nine o'clock sharp every one sat down to breakfast.
CHAPTER XVIII
STILL IN THE HUT
The duties of the messman were more onerous than those of the night watchman, and began by laying the table—a simple operation owing to the primitive conditions under which we lived. He then garnished this with hot sauces to tickle some of our tough palates, and when we sat down he passed up bowls of porridge and the big jug of hot milk, which was the standing dish every day.
Then came the messman's order, "Up bowls," and, reserving our spoons, the bowls were passed along. If it were a "fruit day"—a day when the second course consisted of bottled fruit—the bowls were retained for this popular dish.
After he had been assisted in washing up the breakfast things, the duty of the man in the house was to fill the melting-pots with ice, empty the ashes and tins into the dust-box outside, and get in a bag of coal. One often heard the messman anxiously enquiring what the dinner dishes consisted of, the most popular, from his point of view, being those which resulted in the least amount of grease on the plates. The hut was swept out three times a day, so that the building was kept in a tidy state.
