356 SCOTT'S LAST EXPEDITION [December 



was the lower edge of the bridge which was rotten, whereas 

 in all in the glacier the upper edge was open. 



Near the narrow crevasses this afternoon we got about lo 

 minutes on snow which had a hard crust and loose crystals below. 

 It was like breaking through a glass house at each step, but 

 quite suddenly at 5 p.m. everything changed. The hard surface 

 gave place to regular sastrugi and our horizon levelled in every 

 direction. I hung on to the S.W. till 6 P.M., and then camped 

 with a delightful feeling of security that we had at length reached 

 the summit proper. I am feeling very cheerful about everything 

 to-night. We marched 15 miles (geo.) (over 17 stat. ) to-day, 

 mounting nearly 800 feet and all in about 83^ hours. My 

 determination to keep mounting irrespective of course is fully 

 justified and I shall be indeed surprised if we have any further 

 difficulties with crevasses or steep slopes. To me for the first 

 time our goal seems really in sight. We can pull our loads and 

 pull them much faster and farther than I expected in my most 

 hopeful moments. I only pray for a fair share of good weather. 

 There is a cold wind now as expected, but with good clothes and 

 well fed as we are, we can stick a lot worse than we are getting. 

 I trust this may prove the turning-point in our fortunes for which 

 we have waited so patiently. 



Sunday, December 24. — Lunch. Bar. 21-48. ? Rise 160 

 feet. Christmas Eve. 7>4 miles geo. due south, and a rise, I 

 think, more than shown by barometer. This in five hours, on 

 the surface which ought to be a sample of what we shall have 

 in the future. With our present clothes it is a fairly heavy plod, 

 but we get over the ground, which is a great thing. A high 

 pressure ridge has appeared on the ' port bow.' It seems iso- 

 lated, but I shall be glad to lose sight of such disturbances. 

 The wind is continuous from the S.S.E., very searching. We are 

 now marching in our wind blouses and with somewhat more pro- 

 tection on the head. 



Bar. 21-41. Camp 46. Rise for day ? about 250 ft. or 

 300 ft. Hypsometer, 8000 ft. 



The first two hours of the afternoon march went very well. 

 Then the sledges hung a bit, and we plodded on and covered 

 something over 14 miles (geo.) in the day. We lost sight of 

 the big pressure ridge, but to-night another smaller one shows 

 fine on the ' port bow,' and the surface is alternately very hard 



