The flat floes and frozen leads in the neighbourhood of the ship made excellent training grounds.

Hockey and football on the floe were our chief recreations, and all hands joined in many a strenuous game.

Worsley took a party to the floe on the 26th and started building a line of igloos and "dogloos" round the ship.
These little buildings were constructed, Esquimaux fashion, of big blocks of ice, with thin sheets for the roofs.

Boards or frozen sealskins were placed over all, snow was piled on top and pressed into the joints, and then water was thrown over the structures to make everything firm.

The ice was packed down flat inside and covered with snow for the dogs, which preferred, however, to sleep outside except when the weather was extraordinarily severe.