who behaved very badly in that he was always squealing, biting, and kicking the other ponies.  A visitor to the stables, if he lent a hand to stir up the blubber which was usually cooking there, found himself generally welcome and certain to be entertained.  Oates and Meares, his constant companions, had both served through the South African War, and had many delightful stories to tell of their experiences in this campaign; their anecdotes are not all printable, but no matter.  Of Oates it is correct to say that he was more popular with the seamen than any other officer.  He understood these men perfectly and could get any amount of work out of them, this was a great advantage, because he only had his Russian groom permanently to assist him, and he generally used volunteer labour after working hours to carry out his operations.  In the two lectures he gave us on “The Care and Management of Horses,” to which reference has been made, Oates showed how much time and thought he had devoted to his charges, and to the forthcoming pony-sledge work over the Great Ice Barrier.

During the latter half of the winter Oates and I saw a good deal of one another, as we daily exercised our ponies on the sea ice when Wilson’s party was away and afterwards also till the weather was light enough for me to continue surveying.  Oates led two ponies out generally—­ Christopher, the troublesome, and Jehu, the indolent while the care of the rogue pony, Chinaman, devolved on myself.  When the ponies went well, which was usually the case, when they did not suffer from the weather, we used to have long yarns about our respective services and mutual friends.  Oates would often discuss the forthcoming southern journey, and his ambition was to reach the top of the Beardmore Glacier; he did not expect to be selected for the southern party, which was planned to contain four men only—­two of these must have special knowledge of navigation, to check one another’s observations—­the third would be a doctor, and it was expected that a seaman would be chosen for the fourth.  So Oates was convinced that he had no chance, never for a moment appreciating his own sterling qualities.

By the spring the ponies were all ready to start their serious training for the southern journey, and the proper leaders now took charge to daily exercise their animals in harness.  The older sledges were used with dummy loads, varying in weight according to the condition and strength of the pony.  So well in fact and so carefully did Oates tend his charges, that by the time they were required for the southern journey only Jehu caused him any anxiety, even so this beast managed to haul a reasonable load for a distance of nearly 280 miles.

As to the dogs, the list was as follows: