For one thing we have no soap or towels, only bare necessities being brought with us; and, again, had we possessed these articles, our supply of fuel would only permit us to melt enough ice for drinking purposes.

Had one man washed, half a dozen others would have had to go without a drink all day.

One cannot suck ice to relieve the thirst, as at these low temperatures it cracks the lips and blisters the tongue.

Still, we are all very cheerful." During the whole of their stay on Elephant Island the weather was described by Wild as "simply appalling." Stranded as they were on a narrow, sandy beach surrounded by high mountains, they saw little of the scanty sunshine during the brief intervals of clear sky.

On most days the air was full of snowdrift blown from the adjacent heights.
Elephant Island being practically on the outside edge of the pack, the winds which passed over the relatively warm ocean before reaching it clothed it in a "constant pall of fog and snow." On April 25, the day after I left for South Georgia, the island was beset by heavy pack-ice, with snow and a wet mist.