PREFACE 



Strange as it may seem, the greater part of this story had 

 been enacted before I realised that it would devolve on me to 

 narrate it in book form. 



When first I saw vaguely this unwelcome task before me 

 there was fresh in my mind not only the benefit which we had 

 derived from studying the records of former Polar voyages, but 

 the disappointment which we had sometimes suffered from the 

 insufficient detail which they provided. It appeared to me in 

 consequence that the first object in writing an account of a 

 Polar voyage was the guidance of future voyagers ; the first duty 

 of the writer was to his successors. 



I have done my best to keep this object in view, and I give 

 this explanation because I am conscious that it has led me into 

 descriptive detail which will probably be tiresome to the ordi- 

 nary reader. As, however, such matter is more or less massed 

 into certain portions of the book, I take comfort from reflect- 

 ing that the interested reader will have no difficulty in avoiding 

 such parts as he may consider tedious. 



I have endeavoured to avoid the use of technicalities, but 

 in all cases this has not been possible, as the English language 

 is poor in words descriptive of conditions of ice and snow. I 

 take the opportunity, therefore, of defining some technical 

 words that I have used freely. 



Neve — the packed snow of a snow-field, an accumulation of 

 minute ice crystals. This word is, of course, well known to 

 mountaineers. 



