HUT SITE CHOSEN 175 



sides a basin, in fact. The bare ridge we passed over 

 to descend into the basin was a good deal broken up; 

 but the fissures were narrow, and almost entirely filled 

 up again with drift, so that they were not dangerous. 

 The basin gave us the impression of being sheltered and 

 cosy, and, above all, it looked safe and secure. This 

 stretch of ice was with the exception of a few quite 

 small hummocks of the shape of haycocks perfectly 

 flat and free from crevasses. 



We crossed it, and went up on the ridge that rose 

 very gently on the south. From the top of this all was 

 flat and even as far as we could see; but that was not 

 saying much. For a little while we continued along the 

 ridge in an easterly direction without finding any place 

 that was specially suited for our purpose. Our thoughts 

 returned to the basin as the best sheltered place we had 

 seen. 



From the height we were now on, we could look 

 down into the south-eastern part of the Bay of Whales. 

 In contrast to that part of the ice-foot to which we had 

 made fast, the inner bay seemed to consist of ice that 

 had been forced up by pressure. But we had to leave a 

 closer examination of this part till later. We all liked 

 the basin, and agreed to choose it as our future abode. 

 And so we turned and went back again. It did not 

 take long to reach the plain in our own tracks. 



On making a thorough examination of the surface 

 and discussing the various possibilities, we came to the 



