“The sea is quite calm, which is a bad omen, and what looks like a line of ice on the horizon is a worse one. A seal made quite a little pretence at trying to land. Had we a little more ammunition we should attempt to shoot him in the water.

“We had, however, a wonderful haul of 81 penguins. Owing to the alleged abundance of our food reserve, we were told that no part of the penguins need be kept except the heart, liver and skins. Really, we deserve to go without if we deliberately throw valuable food away like this.”

— Thomas Orde-Lees