I9II] BAD CONDITIONS CONTINUE 319 



things considered; Jehu is doing extremely well for him. As 

 we camped the sun came out and the cold chilly conditions of 

 the march passed away, leaving everything peaceful, calm, and 

 pleasant. We shall be in a better position to know how we 

 stand when we get to One Ton Camp, now only 17 or 18 miles, 

 but I am anxious about these beasts — very anxious, they are not 

 the ponies they ought to have been, and if they pull through 

 well, all the thanks will be due to Oates. I trust the weather 

 and surface conditions will improve; both are rank bad at 

 present. 



3 P.M. — It has been snowing consistently for some hours, 

 adding to the soft surface accumulation inch upon inch. What 

 can such weather mean? Arguing it out, it is clearly necessary 

 to derive this superfluity of deposition from some outside source 

 such as the open sea. The wind and spread of cloud from the 

 N.E. and the exceptionally warm temperature seem to point to 

 this. If this should come as an exception, our luck will be truly 

 awful. The camp is very silent and cheerless, signs that things 

 are going awry. The temperature in the middle of our tent this 

 morning when the sun was shining on it was 50° ! outside — lo'^. 



Tuesday, November 14. — Camp 11. The surface little im- 

 proved, but a slightly better and much more cheerful march. 

 The sun shone out midway, and although obscured for a time, 

 it is now quite bright again. Now it is thoroughly warm, the air 

 breathlessly still, and the ponies resting in great comfort. If the 

 snow has finished, the surface deposit, which is three to four 

 inches thick, ought to diminish rapidly. Yet it is painful strug- 

 gling on through this snow, though the ponies carry it gallantly 

 enough. Christopher has now been harnessed three times with- 

 out difficulty. After One Ton Camp it ought to be possible 

 to stop him for a midnight halt and so get through the easier 

 on long marches. Nearly 12 statute miles without a stop must 

 be a big strain on the rearguard animals. One Ton Camp is 

 only about 7 miles farther. Meanwhile we passed two of Evans' 

 cairns to-day and one old cairn of last year, so that we ought 

 to have little difficulty in finding our depot. 



Although we have been passing the black land of the Bluff 

 I have not seen a sign of this land for four days. I had not 

 thought it possible that misty conditions could continue for so 

 long a time in this region; always before we have seen the land 



