110 VOYAGE TO THE POLAR SEA. June 



' In the afternoon of same day the wind hilled, and 

 by using the guys, sledge-lashings, and drag-ropes, we 

 managed to pitch the tent after an hour's hard work. 

 We put the sick in, and tried to make them comfort- 

 able ; but the tent was badly pitched, and the squalls 

 from the cliffs, more like whirlwinds, sometimes made 

 the two sides meet in the middle. We were all 

 huddled up in a heap, wet through, and nobody could 

 sleep. 



' This went on until noon of the 22nd, when the 

 wind having gone down we repitchecl the tent and had 

 a few hours' rest, which we so much needed. At 9.30 

 we started ; but the wet and cold had stiffened our 

 limbs, and for the first time I felt the scurvy pains in 

 my legs. Craig and Dobing almost dragged them- 

 selves along, their breath failing entirely at every ten 

 yards — this appears to be the most marked feature of 

 the advanced stage of the disease ; all four now, but 

 especially Paul and Jenkins, gasped for breath on the 

 slightest exertion — it was painful to watch them. We 

 were a long way from Polaris Bay still, and I did not 

 see how we were to reach it under the circumstances. 



' On the 23rd of June it became necessary to carry 

 both Dobing and Craig, to enable us to advance at all ; 

 and although this in our weakened state made three 

 trips each clay necessary, and limited our advance to a 

 mile, yet we were still moving on. 



' On the evening of the 24th we started for our last 

 journey with the sledge, as I thought ; for finding that 

 Jones and Gray were scarcely able to pull, I had 

 determined to reach the shore at the plain, pitch the 

 tent, and walk over by myself to Polaris Bay to see if 



