Orde-Lees Journal, 2 November 1915
A fine day at last. Roused 6:30 a.m. and all took advantage of the sunshine to dry & air sleeping bags which were beginning to get very wet.
That is one of the little discomforts of polar camping. One may, in laying one's sleeping bag out on the floor cloth neglect to observe some particles of snow on the cloth and may place the bag upon them. Consequently the heat of one's body thaws the snow & the skin of the bag soon absorbs the moisture & becomes in a very short time sodden. Mine was so the very first day; but then mine is an old bag & one cannot expect too much of an old bag & after all I am lucky enough to have a bag at all for there were ten unlucky members without one. They have only an ordinary Jaeger blanket sleeping bag. We cast lots for them & I got the very last one.
The fine day has greatly cheered us all and we have all taken full advantage of it in the way of improving the camp & adding to our limited resources by bringing every thing available from the ship, which still remains nipped by the ice, with the dog teams went off early under Mr. Wild & every effort has been made to rescue as much as possible on board, but it is extremely difficult now to accomplish much as the whole of the main deck is under water - a foot deep on the windward side and 3 ft on the lee side. Still they contrived to collect a large quantity of wood & even shifted the wheel house complete & brought it here on a sledge - it looked like a coffee stall coming along. It is to be rigged up as a storeroom.
A number of books were recovered, including part of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, several pots & pans, a case of suet & just a few odd provisions, comprising 6 lbs. lentils, 1 tin soup, 1/2 tin of lard, tin salmon, 1 tin sheep's tongue, 3 bottles of fruit, 5 1/2 7 lb. tins of oatmeal & a handful of flour & salt.
I have been occupied about the camp all day checking the provisions, etc. This afternoon Sir Ernest contrived a simple balance out of a piece of wood & string & weighed out various items of our dietary to see how we stood.
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