A RACE FOR THE TENT 251 



trail of our own ski — so long as it was visible. But the 

 drift was beginning to blot it out, and if it once did 

 that, any attempt at finding the tent would be hopeless. 

 For a long and anxious quarter of an hour it looked as 

 if we should be too late, until at last the tent came in 

 sight, and we were saved. We had escaped the blizzard 

 so far; a few minutes later it burst in all its fury, and 

 the whirling snow was so thick that it would have been 

 impossible to see the tent at a distance of ten paces, but 

 by then we were all safe and sound inside. Ravenously 

 hungry after the twelve hours that had passed since our 

 last proper meal, we cooked an extra large portion of 

 pemmican and the same of chocolate, and with this 

 sumptuous repast we celebrated the event of the day — 

 the discovery of land. From what we had seen in the 

 course of the day it might be regarded as certain that 

 we should be disappointed in our hopes of finding any 

 great and interesting field for our labours in this 

 quarter; King Edward Land was still far too well 

 hidden under eternal snow and ice to give us that. But 

 even the establishment of this, to us, somewhat un- 

 welcome fact marked an increase of positive human 

 knowledge of the territory that bears the name of King 

 Edward VII. ; and with the geological specimens that 

 we had collected, we were in possession of a tangible 

 proof of the actual existence of soHd ground in a region 

 which otherwise bore the greatest resemblance to what 

 we called " Barrier " elsewhere, or in any case to the 



