330 SCOTT'S LAST EXPEDITION [December 



point of view the surface is distinctly bad. The ponies plough 

 deep all the time, and the men most of the time. The sastrugi 

 are rather more clearly S.E.; this would be from winds sweeping 

 along the coast. We have a recurrence of ' sinking crusts ' — 

 areas which give way with a report. There has been little of this 

 since we left One Ton Camp until yesterday and to-day, when 

 it is again very marked. Certainly the open Barrier conditions 

 are different from those near the coast. Altogether things look 

 much better and everyone is in excellent spirits. Meares has been 

 measuring the holes made by ponies' hooves and finds an average 

 of about 8 inches since we left One Ton Camp. He finds many 

 holes a foot deep. This gives a good indication of the nature 

 of the work. In Bowers' tent they had some of Chinaman's 

 undercut in their hoosh yesterday, and say it was excellent. I 

 am cook for the present. Have been discussing pony snowshoes. 

 I wish to goodness the animals would wear them — it would save 

 them any amount of labour in such surfaces as this. 



Thursday, November 30. — Camp 26. A very pleasant day 

 for marching, but a very tiring march for the poor animals, 

 which, with the exception of Nobby, are showing signs of failure 

 all round. We were slower by half an hour or more than yes- 

 terday. Except that the loads are light now and there are 

 still eight animals left, things don't look too pleasant, but we 

 should be less than 60 miles from our first point of aim. The 

 surface was much worse to-day, the ponies sinking to their knees 

 very often. There were a few harder patches towards the end 

 of the march. In spite of the sun there was not much ' glide ' 

 on the snow. The dogs are reported as doing very well. They 

 are going to be a great standby, no doubt. The land has been 

 veiled in thin white mist; it appeared at intervals after we 

 camped and I had taken a couple of photographs. 



Friday, December i. — Camp 27. Lat. 82° 47'. The ponies 

 are tiring pretty rapidly. It is a question of days with all except 

 Nobby. Yet they are outlasting the forage, and to-night against 

 some opinion I decided Christopher must go. He has been shot; 

 less regret goes with him than the others, in remembrance of all 

 the trouble he gave at the outset, and the unsatisfactory way he 

 has gone of late. Here we leave a depot * so that no extra 

 weight is brought on the other ponies; in fact there is a slight 



* The Southern Barrier Depot. 



