124 SCOTT'S LAST EXPEDITION [February 



tireless rhythm. I have been off the sledge a good deal and 

 trotting for a good many miles, so should sleep well. E, Evans 

 has left a bale of forage at Camp 8 and has not taken on the 

 one which he might have taken from the depot — facts which 

 show that his ponies must have been going strong. 1 hope to 

 find them safe and sound the day after to-morrow. 



We had the most wonderfully beautiful sky effects on the 

 march with the sun circling low on the southern horizon. Bright 

 pink clouds hovered overhead on a deep grey-blue background. 

 Gleams of bright sunlit mountains appeared through the stratus. 



Here it is most difficult to predict what is going to happen. 

 Sometimes the southern sky looks dark and ominous, but within 

 half an hour all has changed — the land comes and goes as the 

 veil of stratus lifts and falls. It seems as though weather is 

 made here rather than dependent on conditions elsewhere. It 

 is all very interesting. 



Tuesday, February 2i. — New Camp about I2 miles from 

 Safety Camp. 153^ miles. We made a start as usual about 

 10 P.M. The light was good at first, but rapidly grew worse till 

 we could see little of the surface. The dogs showed signs of 

 wearying. About an hour and a half after starting we came 

 on mistily outlined pressure ridges. We were running by the 

 sledges. Suddenly Wilson shouted ' Hold on to the sledge,' and 

 I saw him slip a leg into a crevasse. I jumped to the sledge, but 

 saw nothing. Five minutes after, as the teams were trotting 

 side by side, the middle dogs of our team disappeared. In a 

 moment the whole team were sinking — two by two we lost sight 

 of them, each pair struggling for foothold. Osman the leader 

 exerted all his great strength and kept a foothold — it was won- 

 derful to see him. The sledge stopped and we leapt aside. The 

 situation was clear in another moment. We had been actually 

 travelling along the bridge of a crevasse, the sledge had stopped 

 on it, whilst the dogs hung in their harness in the abyss, sus- 

 pended between the sledge and the leading dog. Why the sledge 

 and ourselves didn't follow the dogs we shall never know. I 

 think a fraction of a pound of added weight must have taken us 

 down. As soon as we grasped the position, we hauled the 

 sledge clear of the bridge and anchored it. Then we peered 

 into the depths of the crack. The dogs were howling dismally, 

 suspended in all sorts of fantastic positions and evidently terribly 



