244 THE EASTERN SLEDGE JOURNEY 



farther on the way we had hitherto been following, but 

 in the course of the day we worked round by a long 

 detour to the foot of the most westerly of the moun- 

 tains. We were then about 1,000 feet above the sea; 

 to the north of us we had the abrupt descent already 

 mentioned, to the south it was quite flat. Our view to 

 the east was shut in by the two mountains, and our 

 first idea was to ascend to the tops of them, but the 

 powers of the weather again opposed us with their full 

 force. A stiff south-east wind set in and increased in 

 the course of half an hour to a regular blizzard. Little 

 as it suited our wishes, there was nothing to be done 

 but to creep back into the tent. For a whole month 

 now we had seen scarcely anything but fair weather, 

 and the advance of summer had given us hopes that it 

 would hold; but just when it suited us least of all came 

 a dismal change. 



The light Antarctic summer night ran its course, 

 while the gusts of wind tugged and tore at the thin 

 sides of our tent; no snowfall accompanied the south- 

 easterly wind, but the loose snow of the surface was 

 whirled up into a drift that stood like an impenetrable 

 wall round the tent. After midnight it moderated a 

 little, and by four o'clock there was comparatively fair 

 weather. We were on our feet at once, put together 

 camera, glasses, aneroids, axe, Alpine rope, with some 

 lumps of pemmican to eat on the way, and then went 

 off for a morning walk with the nearer of the two hills 



