SLEDGE JOURNEY. 419 



breathing and stiffening limbs warn us to pitch our 

 tent. 



Under ordinary circumstances this was done about six or 

 seven p.m., on a smooth surface. A hole was quickly dug 

 with shovels, on which the tent was erected, and the dug- 

 out blocks of snow laid round it for safety against the 

 storm, and the sledge placed as a shield to the north. 

 The tent was kept upright by means of four long poles, 

 each crossed at the top, stretched by ropes fastened to 

 axes or piles driven into the ground. When the sleeping- 

 sack had been laid down in the tent, our personal baggage 

 settled, the kettle filled with blocks of snow by the cook, 

 the lamp lit, and the rations given out, our comrades, who, 

 owing to the increased cold since the setting of the sun, 

 had meanwhile been running and jumping to keep them- 

 selves warm, were allowed to enter. 



During our last half-hour's march, each man had been 

 busy thawing his beard with his hands, for it had been 

 changed into a lump of ice, so that it might not melt 

 whilst the cooking was going on, and so wet their clothes 

 and coverings. As soon as all were in their places in the 

 tent the aperture was closed, and preparations made for 

 passing the night. 



The stiff sail-cloth boots, fast frozen to the stockings 

 which were to form our pillows, were thawed between the 

 hands, and with difficulty taken off; the stockings, thick 

 with rimy snow, were scraped, then wrung and laid upon 

 the breast, to dry by our only available means — our bodily 

 heat — so as to prepare them for the following day's work. 



At last all have wriggled themselves into the sleeping- 

 sack, each one lying partly on his neighbour, and in this 

 modest space waiting for the evening meal. 



E e 2 



