Until quite recently almost the thought of it was nauseating.

Now, however, we positively demand it.

The thick black oil which is rendered down from it, rather like train-oil in appearance and cod-liver oil in taste, we drink with avidity." We had now about enough farinaceous food for two meals all round, and sufficient seal to last for a month.

Our forty days' reserve sledging rations, packed on the sledges, we wished to keep till the last.
But, as one man philosophically remarked in his diary: "It will do us all good to be hungry like this, for we will appreciate so much more the good things when we get home." Seals and penguins now seemed to studiously avoid us, and on taking stock of our provisions on March 21 I found that we had only sufficient meat to last us for ten days, and the blubber would not last that time even, so one biscuit had to be our midday meal.
Our meals were now practically all seal meat, with one biscuit at midday; and I calculated that at this rate, allowing for a certain number of seals and penguins being caught, we could last for nearly six months.

We were all very weak though, and as soon as it appeared likely that we should leave our floe and take to the boats I should have to considerably increase the ration.