19" I RESCUE WORK 125 



frightened. Two had dropped out of their harness, and we 

 could see them indistinctly on a snow bridge far below. The rope 

 at either end of the chain had bitten deep into the snow at the 

 side of the crevasse, and with the weight below, it was im- 

 possible to move it. By this time Wilson and Cherry-Garrard, 

 who had seen the accident, had come to our assistance. At first 

 things looked very bad for our poor team, and I saw little 

 prospect of rescuing them. I had luckily inquired about the 

 Alpine rope before starting the march, and now Cherry-Garrard 

 hurriedly brought this most essential aid. It takes one a little 

 time to make plans under such sudden circumstances, and for 

 some minutes our efforts were rather futile. We could get not 

 an inch on the main trace of the sledge or on the leading rope, 

 which was binding Osman to the snow with a throttling pressure. 

 Then thought became clearer. We unloaded our sledge, putting 

 In safety our sleeping-bags with the tent and cooker. Choking 

 sounds from Osman made it clear that the pressure on him 

 must soon be relieved. I seized the lashing off Meares' sleeping- 

 bag, passed the tent poles across the crevasse, and with Meares 

 managed to get a few inches on the leading line; this freed 

 Osman, whose harness was immediately cut. 



Then securing the Alpine rope to the main trace we tried 

 to haul up together. One dog came up and was unlashed, but 

 by this time the rope had cut so far back at the edge that it 

 was useless to attempt to get more of it. But we could now 

 unbend the sledge and do that for which we should have aimed 

 from the first, namely, run the sledge across the gap and work 

 from it. We managed to do this, our fingers constantly numbed. 

 Wilson held on to the anchored trace whilst the rest of us 

 laboured at the leader end. The leading rope was very small 

 and I was fearful of its breaking, so Meares was lowered down 

 a foot or two to secure the Alpine rope to the leading end of 

 the trace; this done, the work of rescue proceeded In better 

 order. Two by two we hauled the animals up to the sledge and 

 one by one cut them out of their harness. Strangely the last 

 dogs were the most difficult, as they were close under the lip of 

 the gap, bound in by the snow-covered rope. Finally, with a 

 gasp we got the last poor creature on to firm snow. We had 

 recovered eleven of the thirteen. ^^* 



Then I wondered if the last two could not be got, and we 



