1912] FROM BAD TO WORSE 



403 



what each man feels in his heart I can only guess. Pulling on 

 foot gear in the morning is getter slower and slower, therefore 

 every day more dangerous. 



Sunday, March 4. — Lunch. Things looking very black in- 

 deed. As usual we forgot our trouble last night, got into our 

 bags, slept splendidly on good hoosh, woke and had another, and 

 started marching. Sun shining brightly, tracks clear, but sur- 

 face covered with sandy frostrime. All the morning we had 

 to pull with all our strength, and in 43^ hours we covered 3^ 

 miles. Last night it was overcast and thick, surface bad; this 

 morning sun shining and surface as bad as ever. One has little 

 to hope for except perhaps strong dry wind — an unlikely con- 

 tingency at this time of year. Under the immediate surface 

 crystals is a hard sustrugi surface, which must have been excellent 

 for pulling a week or two ago. We are about 42 miles from the 

 next depot and have a week's food, but only about 3 to 4 days' 

 fuel — we are as economical of the latter as one can possibly 

 be, and we cannot afford to save food and pull as we are pulling. 

 We are in a very tight place indeed, but none of us despondent 

 yet, or at least we preserve every semblance of good cheer, but 

 one's heart sinks as the sledge stops dead at some sastrugi 

 behind which the surface sand lies thickly heaped. For the mo- 

 ment the temperature is on the — 20° — an improvement which 

 makes us much more comfortable, but a colder snap is bound to 

 come again soon. I fear that Oates at least will weather such 

 an event very poorly. Providence to our aid ! We can expect 

 little from man now except the possibility of extra food at the 

 next depot. It will be real bad if we get there and find the same 

 shortage of oil. Shall we get there? Such a short distance it 

 would have appeared to us on the summit! I don't know what 

 I should do if Wilson and Bowers weren't so determinedly 

 cheerful over things. 



Monday, March 5. — Lunch. Regret to say going from bad 

 to worse. We got a slant of wind yesterday afternoon, and 

 going on 5 hours we converted our wretched morning run of 

 3>^ miles into something over 9. We went to bed on a cup of 

 cocoa and pemmican solid with the chill off. (R. 47.) The re- 

 sult is telling on all, but mainly on Oates, whose feet are in a 

 wretched condition. One swelled up tremendously last night 

 and he is very lame this morning. We started march on tea 



