A GLIMPSE OF THE MOUNTAINS 79 



without an idea of what the ground was like, was not 

 very pleasant. But how long should we have to wait 

 for clear weather? That question was unanswerable; 

 possibly a week, or even a fortnight, and we had no 

 time for that. Better go straight on, then, and take 

 what might come. 



What we could see of the glacier appeared to be 

 pretty steep; but it was only between the south and 

 south-east, under the new land, that the fog now and 

 again lifted sufficiently to enable us to see anything. 

 From the south round to the west the fog lay as thick 

 as gruel. We could see that the big crevasses lost 

 themselves in it, and the question of what the glacier 

 looked like on the west had to be put aside for the 

 moment. It was to the south we had to go, and there 

 it was possible to go forward a little way. We continued 

 our march until the ground began to show signs of the 

 glacier in the form of small crevasses, and then we 

 halted. It was our intention to lighten our sledges 

 before tackling the glacier ; from the little we could see 

 of it, it was plain enough that we should have stiff work. 

 It was therefore important to have as little as possible 

 on the sledges. 



We set to work at once to build the depot; the snow 

 here was excellent for this purpose — as hard as glass. 

 In a short time an immense erection of adamantine 

 blocks of snow rose into the air, containing provisions 

 for five men for six days and for eighteen dogs for 



