They were not long before they commenced work. Cape Adare was explored and its height determined to be 3670 feet above sea-level. Vegetation, in the form of lichens, was traced up to a thousand feet, to which level it was found the penguins made their crude nests and hatched their young. Snow lay deep after three thousand feet, but no signs of life, vegetable or animal, were discovered at that altitude. In the waters below and around the cape several specimens of algæ, medusa, hydroids, and other low forms of marine life were secured. In addition to these specimens it was also discovered that there was abundance of fish in the deeper waters of the bay. These were caught, both by net and line, and the members of the expedition were agreeably surprised when it was found that they were nearly all edible, for a constant diet of preserved food soon palls, even on the healthiest appetites. As the ice spread farther out over the bay the fishing was conducted through a hole cut through the ice, and it was no uncommon experience of the fisher to be suddenly confronted with the startled eyes of a seal which had risen from the depth below, under the belief that the opening was a blow-hole for his convenience. On May 15 they saw the sun disappear below the horizon, above which it would not reappear until July 27. The sun, as it disappeared, presented a curious optical phenomenon. Its reflection appeared as a large red elliptical glowing body which gradually changed into a cornered square, while the sky, in its immediate vicinity, revelled in a blaze of colours. As the sun slowly sank, the colours grew in intensity, reaching the height of their vivid beauty as the last of the globe sank out of sight. The Aurora Australis continued to give them displays of colouring throughout the time when the moon was not shining and the sky was otherwise dark. The temperature sank very low, at times, during the night, -25° Fahr. being recorded, soon after the sun went below the horizon, while later on the records were as low as -57° Fahr. Inside the hut, however, the cold was not severely felt, the construction proving excellent for the comfort of the men. The numbers of seals killed for the dogs enabled them to cover the roof with the skins before it became snowed over, while the ample supply of fur and woollen clothing kept the expedition well clad. [Illustration: EMPEROR PENGUINS. The most southerly inhabitants of the Globe. _From "The Siege of the South Pole," by Dr. H. R. Mill. By permission of Messrs. Alston Rivers, Ltd._]